Hands-free

This June hols, I noticed something different: I don't need to hold my children's hands anymore when I bring them out. *teary eyes*

Joram has learnt how to climb up and down the stairs without any help and is able to use the escalators confidently on his own. I can finally walk hands-free! I only need to glance backwards once in a while to make sure that they are all still following me. I am more relaxed crossing the road with them because they are all tall enough for drivers to see them even if they walk alone. 

This is definitely a far cry from those difficult days when I had to move around with a baby in the carrier, pushing a toddler in a stroller with two preschoolers holding onto its side bars, one kid on my left and the other on my right. In the past, there was even this horrible rule which did not allow us poor mothers to push the stroller up the bus. I had to take Joram out of the pram, put him in a sling, carry the diaper bag on one shoulder and the folded up stroller on the other, use one hand to tap all our cards, hold the toddler with the other hand and give the older two preschoolers verbal instructions to be careful to hold onto the grab poles or find a seat. This ridiculous regulation was strangely only implemented when my eldest was 9 months old and they finally rescinded it AFTER my kids don’t need to use the stroller anymore! It was indeed immense agony for me for so many years. I’m just glad the authorities are more enlightened now and future mothers with young children who cannot afford a car will never have to suffer the way I did. 

Getting back to what I was saying, even though my kids have always been great travellers, this new development has put the ease and leisure into my outings with the kids. I definitely treasure this stage before they become old enough to loathe running errands, buying groceries and going out with me. 

Going up...

... and coming down.