Turning 6

My daughter turned 6 this year. 6 is a big milestone for her. It’s an even bigger milestone for me.

It means she leaves the comfortable play area of the nursery class and steps into the wide classrooms of the primary school literally spending the whole day in school learning new subjects and making new friends.

It means she can surprise me with her amazing questions, insightful observations, logical thinking and boundless creativity.

She can hold forth on many topics be it the virtues of Chhota Bheem vs. Tom and Jerry or why eating carrot may not be such a good idea vs. eating pancakes. A lawyer maybe when she grows up, I wonder.

It means I no longer have to run around, feeding her every morsel. On most days, if she likes her food, she can eat it herself and can give her little Masterchef suggestions of what new recipes I should try out in the kitchen. Of course, her suggestions can range from making ‘chocolate chicken’ or 

‘pancakes with fish’. Or maybe she'll be a chef, I think on these days.

It means she takes her own decisions whether it be not combing her hair or choosing purple slacks with a yellow jumpsuit over a normal frilly frock. Actually, maybe she might be a model, my husband tells me as we try to keep a grave face at her 'fashion' choices.

It means she understands almost everything we say and maybe more that’s been left unsaid.

Of course she still has the tantrums or ‘meltdowns’ as my husband and I call them when there are glimpses of the baby she was a few years ago, when all I can do is hold her in my arms and soothe her worries or fears. When I wonder, whether she has really grown up at all.

But that happens more and more rarely. At 6, she is fast becoming independent and no longer depends on me for the smallest of things.

At 6, she is too old to be treated like a baby and her own unmistakable, individual personality shines through all the maze of advice, rules, care and guidance that she goes through each day at home, school and daycare.

At 6, she is my best friend and I see glimpses of the confident, independent woman she is going be one day.

At 6, my daughter is a person who never fails to inspire me and make me strive to be a better person, someone worthy of being called her mother.