FRIDAY COD: CUTENESS ON DELIVERY—QUICK PLAY AND CANDID SHOTS WITH THE KIDS

A house without kids is peaceful. But a house with toddlers in it is happy—although chaotic. And I proudly have the latter.  Most of my days are spent juggling paperwork and writing, but sometimes I spend them with the kids in our house, cleaning their innocent messes and doing whatever they want me to perform just to make them laugh. It’s not bad having kids around—especially on stressful days. Yes, they can add to the chaos, but they can also be the relaxation and break we need.  Just like today. I have a lot of paperwork and reviewing to do because an upcoming seminar is just a week away, and I’ll be one of the speakers for a journalism event. Of course, I find seminars exhausting—especially the preparation, and I sometimes doubt whether I can bring wisdom to the young writers in that school. There are nights of doubt and thoughts of giving up, but there are more mornings filled with excitement and compassion to light the spark of young kids when it comes to literature. (I do literary writing, sometimes sports writing, and sometimes photography.)  Today, I woke up tired and burnt out. I felt I needed to take a break from reviewing and touch on some things I always want to do. Just like this blog—I’m writing it because it makes me feel recharged and grounded in my passion. But before this blog, I did something outside my “daily routine”: I spent time with the kids in the house and did some quick photography. And I mean it—“quick” really was quick because I had to keep them entertained, so I grabbed my camera to amaze them. I felt the urge to share the photos, though I don’t think they turned out that great 😅—they’re just cute.   This baby is my eldest brother’s daughter. They visited early this morning because their grandma missed them. My brother has two daughters—the younger one is very loud, and the eldest is quite a nuisance. Well, they’re kids. Even with those thoughts, I still love them because they’re my nieces. I believe they’ll eventually learn how to behave (I’m talking about the eldest here—the baby has to do with it yet).  Their parents went to the market to run some errands, so I was tasked with taking care of them for an hour. All I had to do was sit beside them and keep watch. The baby was quiet until her parents came back. Luckily, she stayed calm the whole time I was in charge.    I got bored making silly sounds to entertain her, so I decided to take some photos of her and her sister. The eldest was curious about the camera, and I burst into laughter when she asked if she could take a photo of me. Not because I wanted to tease her, but because I found it funny and odd that a little kid wanted to hold such a heavy camera. She didn’t cry when I said no—she just laughed along with me.    The baby was patient and focused on the rotating lens, so I managed to take a few not-so-good portrait shots. What mattered to me was capturing her cuteness and letting the time pass more quickly. She was patient but moved around a lot, so I had to adjust my shutter speed. Sometimes she smiled; sometimes she had this serious face as if she didn’t like what I was doing. When I put the camera close to her face, she would turn toward it—I think she was enjoying the attention.  Here’s a shot of her with her eldest sister. They look cute together, but honestly, they annoy each other. The baby has an “adult” personality of not liking to be touched, while the eldest touches everything—including her sister. So, imagine the chaos and opposition between them. I believe it’s partly bonding, but I also believe there’s a bit of hostility. According to Freud, the firstborn often develops hostility toward the next-born child, which can even include subconscious wishes for their sibling’s death. It’s a debatable theory—you can read more about it online if you’re curious.   I spent the hour carrying my lens, taking photos I knew I wouldn’t really use but wanted to attach to this blog to show their cuteness.   Eventually, their parents came back, and my “nanny mode” was turned off. Later, I played with the eldest in the living room. She tried a puzzling toy but became frustrated when she couldn’t figure out how to move the piece to the other side. It’s a wire bead maze toy—great for encouraging kids to use their intuition, decision-making, and patience. In the photos, you can see scattered toys she pulled from the drawer but never actually played with. This is one thing a parent must have with kids: patience. Patience to clean up every fingerprint and mess without making them feel ashamed of their curiosity and initiative to play. Play is a fundamental behavior that supports children’s socio-emotional development. Better to have a dirty floor than raise children who aren’t as healthy and happy as they should be.   > These end photos are taken from my Realme C21y Phone I let my niece play whenever and wherever she wanted, but at the end of the play (or the day), she is responsible for cleaning her mess. I’m starting to teach her the tasks she’s already capable of doing so she won’t grow overly dependent on her parents. I make sure to show my support while teaching her small responsibilities. I am the adult, and it’s my responsibility to help guide her conduct and skills. I enjoyed spending my morning with them and having a refreshing break that included writing and photography. I’d love to do this more often, especially when they stay here with us. For now, they’re in another town and just visit from time to time. I hope you enjoyed my blog, dear readers, and maybe learned something from it (if there was something to learn)😁❤️. I hope we share the same sentiment about these kids’ cuteness. How about you—what are your experiences with kids? I’d be grateful to read them below. Thank you!