Engineering culture and a working MOM !! - Part 2

 

As I look back, my journey as a mother has been phenomenal. I have been amazed at myself and my daughter. I have been through things that I didn’t ever feel I would be able to survive. One look at my daughter, I comprehend how rapidly kids learn. Even these tiny beings have an awareness of the surrounding and quickly camouflages itself from danger or uncertainty. This journey has made me more aware than ever, I today know how important it is to change and not all goes by as planned. The best way to plan for a better future is to be ready for a change at any given point of time.

As we all know kids grow and learn very fast, so they outgrow their toys and clothes very quickly. And I being a working mom, try and invest my time very wisely to make sure I can avoid repetitive visits to the shopping mall. As I know every visit brings along a lot of tantrums and unnecessary stuff home. So I started focusing on things that could be reused and upcycled with a  growing child. That is when it struck me how most things, that are my favorite are the ones that grow with my kid. The ones that are “built for change”. Be it a rocker that grows and very easily customizes itself for 3 month old to a 5 yrs. old. Her toys that start with teaching her to recognize colors and go about teaching alphabets, phonics and spellings. These toys have stuck with her for the longest time and she likes them, because they grow with her and keep her engaged and challenged with every growth milestone. 

That made me think about how I must plan and be ready for change at any given time. As I have a very demanding customer (read my daughter) with a very short span of attention and but expects me to be very prompt with my responses. I had my own learning curve with this. So I start cooking with a clear plan and at every stage of cooking I have to welcomes changes thanks to my ever evolving customer (read my daughter) needs. We start with milk and it could end up being anything from pancake to a cupcake. This attitude has made me much more flexible and outcome oriented. I may not do any customization and force feed my daughter. The nutritive value may not change…but I will lose on customer delight J. 

My daughter teaches me new lessons everyday…this was one of our encounters. Be hooked for more of my experiments with her!!