It’s not his fault both his parents are Type A personalities. It’s a little his fault we still book pediatrician appointments on a first name basis – his. ~28 months and countless diva-esque meltdowns later, “The Rockstar All the Nurses Hate” is now “That Rockstar.”
Hi there. I’m Rockstar’s mum. Rockstar was the first baby/child I ever carried in my arms my whole (then) 31 years. I was never a baby person, more like the first to throw an angry look at the next table in a restaurant for being inconsiderate enough to bring their infant and have a meltdown (talk about karma).
Like jumping out a plane (yes that’s my first jump)
When God blessed me (unexpectedly) with a child I vowed to be a good steward of my blessings – I would read books and consult experts, voraciously seeking and humbly accepting good parenting advice anywhere I found it – even if it was around the office water cooler. Anything that would give me an idea how to better raise my own son. I would do as I had always done, juggling the maximum number of subjects in school along with a black belt in taekwondo, a grade 8 in piano, state debate championships, state taekwondo championships (which I won that year) and the Malaysian public exams.
Then Rockstar was born and I became a different person. Raising my child was the most important thing I would ever do. He was another human being. They don’t call you Mummy for nuthin’.
But it was a random comment from someone I worked with who really hit it home: “I love babies because each is so different. Figuring out how best to raise each one – how you’re going to get them to eat right, speak right, turn out right – it’s a different challenge every time.”
I think about how I’m raising the rockstar in my life all the time – how to get him to remember it’s tadpoles that become frogs. How to get him to like books. But most importantly, how to inspire, how to turn that driven and perfectionist personality into a will to succeed rather than a will to refuse things – while saying all the please-and-thank yous along the way.
