SEC-S11W2-My life as a parent or kid and joys and sadness

I am a parent and I had also been a kid and as such, I can boldly tell the joys and sadness for both periods of time 8n our lives. I have experienced both the joys and the sadness and I will like to share them as an entry into this amazing contest following the tips.

As a parent or a kid, tell us about a period when you had lasting joy.

	my kids

One of the greatest things that gives joy to parents is when they give birth to a child. I had my own joy back then, it was really awesome. However no joy equal seeing the baby start growing. It is the growth stages of the kids that I so much love and that is always what brings joy to my heart whenever I recall it.

I could remember the very minute I gave birth to my daughter and the midwife handed her over to me to see my baby for the first time, my heart quickly forgot all the pains and discomforts of pregnancy and labor. It was one of the happiest moment of my life. It feels as if cold water was dropped on my head. I was so happy at that moment.

Spending time with my children in the first few years of their lives brought another untold joy to my heat. My husband and I decided that I leave secular work within that time to give them the needed attention. I gave them all the attention and love they desired. I also witnessed firsthand some wonderful moments of growth in their lives.

Witnessing their first steps to walk and hearing them call mommy for the first time is a joy that will last forever.

What have you done to ensure that this joy continues in your life and in the life of those around you?

Being around them and still watching them grow is a vivid reminder of those wonderful experiences.

Sometimes too, While having good times with them, I will recount how it was like back then when they made their first steps and spoke. We always laugh over it, enjoying the moments.

Other times too, they may walk or speak in the same manner as they did back then. My daughter was a very strong and energetic small child that made people marvel at her age. She did things beyond her age. I can vividly recall when she ran ahead of me on the road while I was heavily pregnant for my son. I was afraid of being hit by vehicle, I was shouting and chasing her to grab her hands, while she was busy running and laughing at me. It was funny but risky too though someone had to help me hold her hands and handed her over to me.

As a parent or a kid, tell us about a period when you had sadness.

Parents also have periods of stress and sadness as they take care of their God-given responsibility.

One of the times I was overwhelmed with sadness was when my son got sick to the extent of being hospitalized.

He could not eat or drink anything, I personally started sweating. I called my husband who was always at work due to his work schedule, who told me to take him to the hospital. I thought it would just a normal check up and drug prescription, then we head home, rather we were given a hospital bed and stayed there for some days.

Those days were something else, the stress and sadness I and my husband underwent during those days was nothing to write home about.

Gratefully, after about a week, he recovered and was discharged from the hospital.

• Another moment was when my son started crawling, her sister had already started schooling and I wanted to do some laundry. I kept him down to gather the clothes, but he couldn't stay without me. He crawled to the wardrobe and unknown to be, picked an iron hanger that had fallen from the wardrobe and put the curved side inside his mouth. Guess what?

He tried to bring out that hanger from his mouth but he couldn't. The curved side had hooked on his chicks inside the mouth and he was busy pulling it out. It was as a fish the the hook caught. I ran inside and saw him crying and tried very hard to unhook the hanger from his mouth. Hmmmm, it wasn't a little thing then. Blood everywhere. I rushed him to the hospital before calling my husband. Thankfully, the situation was arrested as it didn't cause much damage.

I felt very sad that I even left him to crawl. Perhaps I could have carried him. This time around, we weren't admitted but he was given medication.

	My son,

What have you done to ensure that the period of sadness doesn't show up again in your life?

I have taken proper measures since then to ensure it would not repeat itself. At least those within my control. Malaria caused by mosquito bites was key in his illness. In Africa, malaria is everywhere.

I fixed mosquito nets all over the windows and open places where I lived. I also ensured that all my family members slept under mosquito nets.

Sometimes, I fumigate my surroundings, clean up any where that could allow mosquitoes to breed.

Conclusion

As a parent there are many joys and pains that goes with child rearing. But over all, the joy supercedes the pain. It is always a delight when we see our wards doing well and basking in the favour of the Almighty.

I want to invite @okere-blessing, @mesola and @bossj23 to take part in this contest

All images are my properties!