5 Lessons My Four-Year-Old Niece Taught Me

If you didn't know, I have love and admiration for my nieces. I learn something from them every time I see them. In many ways, they're a blessing to their parents, but they've been a blessing in my life. I enjoy spoiling them rotten and showing them unconditional love and affection. I plan on being the aunt they love to be around, and they can trust and get advice from since Nylah, the one-year-old, can't hold a conversation; I want to turn my attention to my four-year-old niece Islah.

Talk about personality, her energy is hard to contain at times, but it's needed to keep all of us going. Her sense of humor, wit, and charm can make anyone fold. I spoil her anything she wants I give, which is probably the worst mistake I've ever made because she doesn't forget. Her memory is like an elephant, and she will hold you accountable. I love children and their enthusiasm for life and learning. I can talk to her more than most adults I know. Although she says I'm "the greatest," she tends to say that a lot to get what she wants. I've learned a lot from this tiny human.

Here are the five lessons my niece taught me about life

Never Let Go Of Your Inner Child

She forces me to use the images I never thought I had. From playing "ice queen" with stuffed animals and building castles with cups, perfumes, and old bottles, I've learned that exploring your inner child gives room for creativity. She's inspired stories I've written, ideas for my children's book, and other creative ideas that I thought never existed. I'm proud to call her my muse. Not only has she challenged my writing and creative muscle. I have a love and appreciation for the arts. I realize that this release is giving balance to all the other aspects of my life.

Example: She loves digging in my things. What kind of things? My purse, my makeup, and beauty products. Playing with my makeup, using my lotions, and wearing my perfume is her mission when she visits.

Curiosity Leads To Understanding

If there ever were a person to help me practice patience, it would be her; her questions are never-ending, which I admire but also find irritating at times because she causes me to think and explain things in a way she understands. Her persistence will take her wherever she wants to go. If I tell her that the sky is blue, she would like to know why she refuses to accept my answer as the final answer. She doesn't think I'm wrong in my answer; I think she's so excited to learn something new and wants to learn every aspect of what she learned to regurgitate it later. She loves to learn, and I can appreciate and admire that. I use those moments to educate myself most of the time. I'm learning like she is, but she doesn't know it; we learn together, making us closer.

Example: She has an activity book, and one of the science lessons was sink and float. To give her an example, I got a clear bowl and got one of her toys. The first toy floated to the top and the second toy sank to the bottom. I explained it a few times to her, but she started to explain it to me; she couldn't wait to go home to tell her mom what she had learned. Now when she comes over, she wants to do the sink or float experiment.

It's ok to talk about your fears.

She understands her feelings. If she's said then, she'll let me know, and if I said anything that may have hurt her feelings, she let me know. She also talks about her fears. She currently has a fear of "the bad guys." I've never personally seen these bad guys. We talk about how she feels, which helps her be more intuitive, and mastering the art of using your words helps others understand how you feel. I allow her to speak and get whatever concerns she has. I give her a safe space to express those feelings.

Example: I'm starting to introduce the word "no" Miss Islah has a bad habit of asking her mother for things, and when she says no, she asks me, and in true aunt fashion, I give her what she's been asking for I stepped on her mother's toes, and that's not good. So, I've been practicing the word no, and her not being used to that, she starts crying dramatically. After I ask her what's wrong, her response is, "I'm so sad." At that point, she attempts to explain what triggered her sadness.

Words Of Affirmation Are Priceless.

I find this one tricky because she has a good way of making you feel good. After saying "no" for the twentieth time, she moves on to words of affirmation such as "You're the greatest," "Your beautiful," and "Your hair looks nice." After saying "aww," I still have to put my foot down and say no, but her tactic doesn't take away from the fact that her words are excellent, and no matter how old you may be, words of affirmation will never go out of style.

Examples: Things she tells me randomly:

"Your beautiful"

"You're the greatest."

"You're my very best friend."

"I love you."

Nothing Is Wrong With Being Silly.

We love to be silly; singing silly songs to dancing and laughing allows me not to take things seriously. I can be serious-minded, so it feels good to laugh at things that don't make sense. It feeds the soul, and once again, it gives room to your inner child.

Example: After using the restroom, her favorite part is washing her hands, and to make sure she washes her hands long enough, she sings the wash your hands which is the Baby Shark remix. Although I want her to hurry up, I can't speed up the process of washing her hands because it's essential. Hand hygiene is a priority in this day in age, so if that means rubbing our hands in a slow-motion thirty million times, then that's what we'll do.

I will be writing a seperate piece with my other niece Nylah aka Nylah Pie aka Ny-pie.

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