It was very interesting for me to visit Leila, Gian and Cesar back at my parent’s home in Belgium this week. It meant that I was reunited with one of my sisters, her husband and child, plus my parents.
What stood out for me is how, when Cesar (Leila and Gians child) would act in certain ways the overall response from my parents was not in accordance with how I remembered them. In relative terms they were quite relaxed and patient in how they dealt with the small one. Especially when he started drawing on the kitchen tiles with color pencils I went into a little moment of panic ‘because my dad is going to EXPLODE’, but he didn’t. Cesar was simply shown by Leila and Gian how he can clean the tiles afterwards with a wet sponge so that is what Cesar did.
This in turn showed me that my parents are able to change and that there are aspects of and about them that I do not necessarily know yet. Therefore I got to know them in a different way, which reminded me of the potential that exists in everyone to drop their old patterns and become a better version of themselves.
I had been visiting my parents a few times a year and I would say that the communication with my dad had evolved from speaking uncomfortably way in the beginning to now talking normally. There was a moment this week where I stood next to him in the kitchen and we were talking about watching cycling on the television. Suddenly I said to him: “you know, I never understood how you can watch cycling on television.” This is not something I would normally have allowed myself to say. I would have dismissed it as something that ‘can create conflict’ instead of seeing the innocence in it. The only way I could ask him that question is because I accepted myself in that moment and felt comfortable expressing myself towards my dad, even though I was not sure how he would react. (He was simply stunned for a moment.)
Another thing that was interesting to watch is how Leila and Gian deal with Cesar on a daily basis. I have never seen such a form of absolutely consistent and dedicated parenting.
Whenever Cesar did something that was in some way inconsiderate of others or the environment, they would approach him and explain to him in English the outflow of his actions and why he needs to adjust his behavior. They would speak to him in a calm manner and with a normal tone of voice. This would most of the times lead to him making a statement that he understands and then he would stop the behavior or pattern. What astounded me is that he as a small boy is completely open to reason. Yes, there is no yelling required, no freaking out, no manipulation with fear, no physical abuse, no verbal abuse, simply explaining consequences and showing the responsibility Cesar has within his actions.
It became apparent to me then that parenting is really the key to creating a world of stable and grounded humans capable of common sense and living in harmony with their environment and with other life forms.
Come and join us in this process of discovering what Life means. These glimpses of ‘Heaven on Earth’ that I am seeing, that I experienced this week, they did not just come falling from the sky. They were the result of working together in a group, of individually and together applying the tools of self-forgiveness, writing and changing ‘who we are’ over many years.
