How my niece changed me

Flashback :

Its 2012. I don't like little children. Don't get me wrong. Its not that I hate them,but I dislike the thought of having a small child cry in your arm till your ears ache and your head throbs with pain.It's almost like having your head hit by a wall and then getting hammered in. Its not that I don't find them cute; in fact I love watching AFV's edition of kids giggling and laughing in hilarious ways and it immediately cracks me up into peals of never ending laughter. Maybe it has had something to do with the profession of me being a teacher till a few years ago. Or maybe I dislike teaching because of the part that involved children. No No! I like children at a certain age , but just not at that age where they are pooping and pissing uncontrollably without any realization of ever having done that( not that I have never done it as a child) but still some how it gives me the creeps. Holding an infant the correct way,making goofy faces to make the kid laugh or simply putting up with the shenanigans just doesn't sit down well with me.

Fast forward to 2013 :

Its mid-September, and I receive the news that my sister has delivered a healthy baby girl. Reality sinks in that I am an aunt officially!(and even the part that I am getting older). Having lost the title of being the "youngest in the family", one look at my niece and I know that I have lost my heart to her. Being away from the family my conversations with her were limited to Skype and other social media. Though I did see her grow up, I wasn't there with her to witness it first hand. My first conversation which must have lasted about an hour with her was the most interesting one.My aunt had told me that the day old baby wiped her face by a slight tilt of her neck rubbing her mouth against the bib. Exaggeration!!! Was the first word that came to my mind. There is no chance that this could ever happen!! I waited for this moment to happen as I saw her and spoke to her.She had to be fed milk with a spoon and as is the case with most babies some of it spilled down her mouth onto her bib.I was waiting for the moment where my aunt could be proved wrong. And there it happened! But I was the one who was proved wrong and was in immediate awe of the little one.

Since then there have been many such moments where she has simply stumped me. In many ways she has taken after me and that is endearing. She is a bundle of high voltage energy which is infectious right from the moment you spend time with her.She is a natural at facing the camera with a charm that's only unique to her.

2014 : The general dislike that I have for children is surely vanished but I still am skeptical about holding a newborn baby or a baby who is yet to complete a couple of months for fear of holding it the wrong way. Watching a baby discover sounds and movements is magical but at the same time it makes me value human life in better ways than one. It suddenly transforms you into a responsible person with bursts of childlike innocence. Rings in the thought which we always need to maintain in order to grow as a person. "Be childlike and not childish".

"Because the creative person is the one who did not let the CHILD in him die."