We've only just begun.....

Tomorrow is the day I was born xx number of years ago, but I have never felt younger - yes yes, my body creaks a bit and I need to exercise, but my spirit is fit as a fiddle belting out a lively melody - ah that superb spirit! Life is brimming with excitement and wonderful promise as Bobby, Kee and I embark on a journey of love, joy and learning.

Rewind time to 2 weeks ago - "It's late at night and I sit here on the window sill in our 36th floor hotel room in Atlantic City. I am captivated by the sight of the moon rising up out of the Atlantic Ocean, big and beautiful, casting a column of golden light. The water ripples and shimmers, and from where I am, that's all the eye can see. But, isn't it simply wonderful that beneath the dancing surface, there's a whole different world - a world which is invisible to us until we dive down to explore its depths."

I was that person living on the land going through life, happy yet unaware of the treasures that awaited me. Kee came into our lives, bringing the diving suits with her, but it was only when we realised that simply fitting her into our adult lives wasn't good enough - only then did we actually put on the diving gear. All that was left to do was to learn to dive into these new depths.

We are ready and willing students, committed to Kee, to teach her to love life minus the cynicism. No, cancel that - she already loves life fully just as every baby does. We are committed one hundred percent to doing everything we can so she carries on in that vein, enjoying life to the fullest, embracing every new experience with joyous enthusiasm, confidence sparkling in those radiant eyes of hers, big and beautiful like the moon.

So began our search for the right teacher and sure enough, we found them in Glenn Doman, Janet Doman and all the staff at the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential in Philadelphia (http://www.iahp.org/). We read their books and knew they were the ones. I attended an intense week-long course, "How to Multilpy Your Baby's Intelligence" at their beautiful Philadelphia campus. They are strong people, not afraid to challenge the ways of the world and stand by their convictions - convictions they have formed based on actual observation and experience of babies and their environment across the globe over a period of 55 years.

I came away after the week, armed with the knowledge of how the human brain develops and how every activity we do as babies actually grows the brain - activities like crawling, creeping, walking, talking and so on. I learned that the brain grows by use just as our muscles do. Feed your little child's brain with knowledge in the form of facts, that is teach them to read, do math, appreciate music, swim, do gymnastics, be multilingual .... time out - I can see you zoning out right about now thinking to yourself, "I never saw her as one of those pushy mothers", but stay with me for a few more minutes and think about this instead.
Have you ever seen the immense curiosity shining in a tiny baby's eyes? Have you ever watched a baby see, hear, touch, smell and taste everything in sight? Have you ever been driven crazy by the "why's" of a three-year-old?

Well darlings, babies and little children absolutely and completely LOVE TO LEARN about the world, anything and everything about it. They learn through their five senses, hence they thrive in an environment filled with sensory stimulation. The Institutes teach mothers and fathers how to teach their children a whole host of things, thereby giving the kids exactly what they want most - to learn. That the brain grows as a direct result of this is almost like a bonus.

I can't possibly even begin to give you a taste of all the invaluable things I learned in that one week - it is life-changing and quite honestly, even that phrase does not quite describe it. I will say this - I came away with a far greater respect for babies, their mothers and fathers, and for immense capacity of the human brain.

Most important of all, the staff at the Institutes taught me, by example, to trust my instincts and not to be cowed down by society as I do what I know to be best for Kee, so she grows up loving life the way every baby does. They taught me the true meaning of the phrase "the courage of your convictions" and for this and much much more, I am deeply grateful.

The able and intelligent children, who are students at the Institutes, and their parents showed us via demos how wonderful and exciting the process of learning and brain growth is. Shining in their eyes is the same love, joy and respect I see in Kee's eyes. They are just kids - kids whose parents saw that sparkle and gave them their 100% by becoming their teachers too - they best teachers they could possibly have because no one loves them more.

Bobby, Kee and I have dived in and it is beautiful.... and it is fun... and it's only the beginning.