Child is the father of man

priyauc · Sep 27, 2007

I was a student of english literature and had come across this quote "Child is the father of man" by William Wordsworth. I understood what it meant then but today when i am a mother i know and understand the depth of this quotation.
When i see my 10 month old baby i feel that as we grow up and grow older in life we tend to become losers.I see the zest in my baby ;that we lack as we grow older.Even if he cannot get hold of something he will try and try till he suceeds. If i stop him from doing it, still he will be determined to do so, till his curiosity is satisfied. Another thing that i notice is that these babies have so much faith that there is no place for fear. He knows when we are around he will take all the chances and even though he knows that he may fall off the bed or somewhere high , for sure that his mother or father are around. The fear of falling does not deter him from doing what he wants. When i get angry with my baby for doing something that he should not do , like playing with the gas cylinder, he starts crying . Maybe he feels bad or hurt that i scold him. But the next moment when i hug him and play with him he forgets the moment that i reprimanded him. Why do we adults keep the hurt and anger within us or years and years. Why cant we learn to forgive and forget.We adults should also not be afraid of our failures or shotrtcomings. We must also keep going and getting at it...... till we get it. We must be determined.We must have the faith that God is there for us and is watching over us, so there should be no room for doubt in our perserverance. When my baby is not well i still see him playing about with so much energy, i wonder why we adults sulk even if we have a headache or fever.I just hope the child in us remains alive forever. These babies find so much pleasure in such simple things in life, just playing with a spoon or a piece of paper can bring so much happiness to them. But we adults are so materialistic,No matter how much we get we will never be happy.Hope we can learn from our babies and enrich our lives.

Sriniketan · Sep 27, 2007

Very nicely written, Priya.
Good observation and comparison.
Want to be a child again!
I think it is possible if we change ourselves a little bit and develop the qualities of the babies, mentioned by you.
Sriniketan

Vysan · Sep 28, 2007

Dear Priya,

Really great article.... We have to learn a lot from the Child... You have observed a lot...

We couldnt be like that because of our egos... Our Ego comes first when we face situations... If we overcome that then we can be successfula nd imaginative like a small child....

Veda

vidhukumar · Sep 28, 2007

priya i can truely relate to what you have written as i also have a 11 month old at home.....and what you have written is simple yet thought provoking!i enjoyed reading your write up!!!:2thumbsup:very nice!!!

sunkan · Sep 29, 2007

DEAR PRIYA,
what u have pointed out is very true, and as we grow we analyze for everything
so are unable to let go and live life the way it comes to us...sunkan

rajmiarun · Sep 29, 2007

Dear Priya,

Ilam Kandru Bayam Ariyadhu, that is why they tend to try to touch even the fire. It is true that kids are so determined, especially kids of generation want to complete what they want(that includes both good and bad). It is we the parents who should be guiding them to do the good and avoid the bad.

Yes, we elders keep the grudge on others. If you see kids playing and when they fight after sometime they play again forgetting all. But if elders poke the nose in the kids fight they start creating the grudge and they have it for long. At times they try to put that grudge on their kids which is not a fair practice.

When we grow up we loose all our childish traits. We dont realize that those we had were virtues and if we follow we could be at more peace. Let us all pray that we retain our childhood and forget all the sorrows and worries.