Proud mummy moment | Canberra child photography

Woops, I missed a day! I also planned to take lots of photos during our busy weekend, and I didn’t. Fail times two!

I particularly wished I’d taken some photos last night, when I experienced my proudest mummy moment to date. But the truth is, I was too busy enjoying said moment, to want to stick a camera between me and the action.

We were at a friend’s place, celebrating her birthday with a bunch of other friends. After we ate, her husband very bravely stood up to sing some traditional Tibetan songs to us all, in honour of his wife’s birthday, and the first birthday of hers that they have shared together in Australia. His singing was beautiful, and Toby sat on my lap, completely mesmerised. After he sang, there was some more singing by a few others, and after that I asked Toby if he would like to get up and sing a song for everyone.

Well.

My funny little nearly-three-year-old said ‘YES!’ most excitedly, jumped up, and marched to the front of the room where the others had stood. He looked around the room boldly, seemingly unperturbed by the group of nearly twenty adults all looking at him expectantly. And then he had a mental block – he couldn’t think of anything to sing! Everyone laughed, because he sighed in such an adult sounding way – exactly the sort of expression that we all make when we can’t think of something. A few suggestions were thrown around, and then he picked one – ‘let’s go driving in my car’, which is the sort of song that he will sing over and over again for the entire car-ride home from daycare. It was not his finest rendition, but that was because he was a bit shy and as he sang, he crept slightly forwards towards me in the most adorable way, inch by inch. He finished the song with a huge round of self-applause and a cheer, and then wanted to sing more. And of course, we encouraged him. So he sang several songs, one of which we’d never even heard before, and he really didn’t want to stop! And he did it all in such an endearing way – not a whisper of showing off, just pure living in the moment and loving it. I cannot begin to express how proud I felt and how happy it made me. I will never forget it.

More than just the pride I felt for my little boy, a big part of what made the moment so special is that we all stepped outside of ourselves for a few minutes and became lost in the moment. I can’t think of any other social event I’ve been to in recent years where adults have sat around unashamedly singing for no particular reason other than to celebrate and enjoy. And imagining how that experience manifested inside Toby’s heart makes me very happy.

Of course, this image has nothing to do with last night whatsoever. But like that moment last night, it speaks to me quite strongly about Toby’s character. I honestly can’t think of anything better in the world than watching a child experience new things.