People have different roles at different life stages: from an innocent young girl, a hard-working career woman, the other half of her beloved, to the all-rounded mother who takes care of the family. Amanda, a full-time mother of two daughters who was a dentist previously, has made the role change with ease.
We can always see the participation of Amanda and her two adorable daughters, Temperance and Amity in the previous events held by Harbour City, such as “Our Toy Stories” , “Everyone can be a SUPERSHARK”, and “Junior Lion Dance”. Amanda also generously shared her life with her two daughters and parenting experience in social media, attracting a huge number of followers. As Mother’s Day is approaching, we specially invited her to share her childcare experience with us.
“I remember I was relatively a frail child. At that time, my mother accompanied me in the hospital every night until dawn.” The memory of her mother’s devotion has been inspiring Amanda deeply in the heart. She has naturally focused on taking care of her daughters as her responsibility and resolutely dedicated her life to being a full-time mother when she gave birth to her first daughter, Temperance.
“Comparing with other mothers’ parenting experience, Temperance is relatively easy to look after. We then decided to have a second child so they could accompany each other at a similar age and grow up together.When my second daughter, Amity was born, we ushered in a staged challenge as Temperance was at the time of learning to stand and walk.”
Amanda recalled she was at the same time watching Temperance stumbling at home while taking care of the newborn. Before Temperance steadily learned to walk, and in order to take better care of the two babies when going outdoors, Amanda deliberately purchased a double-seated baby stroller. This has proven her subtle thoughtfulness of being a mother.
I believe that witnessing the many “first-times” of their children is an unforgettable memory for all parents. And these precious first-time moments, always touch our hearts. Amanda smiled and said”In the process of taking care of my daughters, there are many memorable and interesting memories.
For example, the first time my daughters learned to say “Baba”, the first time she called me “Mama”, then the time of going diaperless, and learning how to use a potty, etc. Also, I remembered the time taking my daughters to travel, while I usually choose the clothing for Amity, she suddenly said that she wanted to choose the outfit for me. All these are deeply unforgettable.”
It is always the most difficult question to solve when she witnesses her daughters growing up from beginning to babble, self-knowledge to learning about the world, and the formation of their personal thoughts or opinions, and to choose their own personality and preferences.
Amanda believes parents are the most powerful role model to their children. She said, “Children need to be surrounded by inspiring people who can guide them, there is no doubt that they imitate our behavior, we are the biggest influence in their lives. Therefore, home education is important. My husband and I have the common ground on raising the children, we equip them with the four core values of understanding, independence,respect and responsibility. When we teach them, we always encounter their questioning; it is a good sign for us to explain with them the reasons behind to inspire them to think critically with empathy.”
Apart from educating children with core values, games are great learning resources. We all know that play is a primary, indeed a primal, way that the children learn to understand and experience the world around them, and even build their self-esteem, sense of wonder. Unlike the parents who arranged the sports, extra-curricular activities and weekend schedule for their children, Amanda chooses to stay behind the scene, somehow a kind of laissez-faire parenting.
“Following their own interest, children are free to choose among various sports and activities, like swimming, skiing, playing tennis. We are always supportive and dish out praise when they do particularly well. What’s more, we encourage them to do what they want.
For example, we bring the younger sister to join the “Everyone Can Be a SuperShark” @ Harbour City, to sing and dance their hearts out, while encourage the elder sister to join the Junior Lion Dance@ Harbour City, to deepen her understanding and experiencing of the traditional performing arts.”
Yet, their smiling faces in activities at Harbour City always impress us, and tell us that children are free to choose what they learn and participate, and this helps them grow happily and healthy.
Although the family of Amanda has rarely celebrated the Mother’s Day, her husband and daughters have made their own little sweet way to express appreciation to Amanda. “I remembered they made a video, my two little girls were sitting on a small chair and said “I love you” to the camera with a finger heart. I was really surprised and touched at that moment.” To Amanda, nothing is more precious than the true expression of feeling from the daughters.
The experience of childcare shared by Amanda is the portrayal of many mothers, and also reminds us the power of mother’s love. She takes care of everything for all of us, teaches us the correct and positive values, and cultivates our interests.
Although it is a natural duty for a mother to take care of her children, her selfless dedication and great love are also worth cherishing.With the coming of Mother’s Day, let’s say thank you and express love to your mother!
Clothing@BORA AKSU KIDS
