Embracing my Tuca

Tuca and I - 1998

Yesterday, I read a great article in Portuguese about carrying babies in a Sling. The article's tittle: "Slingar is resisting the idea that take the children on your lap is bad and that mother's place is at home", called my attention and made me remember the time when Tuca was born... almost 18 years ago.

Tucos - 2013

I wanted to have a sling when Tuca was born. I took my daughter in my lap until she doesn't wanted it anymore. Despite the insistence of a crowd of people telling me that if I carry my daughter all the time in my lap she would become a spoiled, whiny and annoying girl. Or, she would be too dependent on me (this tip was the most narrow-minded that I received). Or carrying her on my lap it would not help her start to walk. Or I do not have time to do anything else: clean the house, do anything out of the house, go out to dinner... all bullshit. The only time Tuca was not on my lap was when I needed cooking or ironing, otherwise she was all the time on my lap: sleeping, taking a shower, eating baby food. I rocked her on my lap while singing old hymns I learned in my childhood until she was two years old. And she curled up on my lap while we prayed before going to bed until she was 13 years-old.

Mommy and Tuca - 2015

My daughter was a child and a teenager, and is a talented, confident and caring young woman with all mistakes that comes with life. She is learning to prepare herself to begin the journey of adulthood. She still loves to hug me and her father, and she continues to sleep on my lap. Her legs no longer fit in my lap that became too small for her. If I'm sitting on the couch, she often lies in my lap. Then I move my hands on her short hair as she whispers: "Mom, I'm too big to fit in your lap." And I reply: "You will never be too big for my lap." At these times, Camille laughs beautifully as she nestles in my lap sleeping or pretending to be asleep. A few months of her completing 18 years of age and start a new phase of her life, I love sharing this moment of love with her. Do not miss the opportunity to take your children on your lap while they are babies. Take them in your lap throughout life: yours and theirs. It will be worth it.