Noey and His Nai Nai

One of the good things that has come out of my part-time work arrangement is that Noey gets to spend a fair amount of one-on-one time with his grandparents. I know DD and I both feel that it is important for Noey to feel a bond with his grandparents, especially when they all love him sooooo much.

My mother-in-law and her relationship with him has been a real success story in this regard. The fondness he has for her now is the clearest example of that fact that if you spend time and effort bonding with a child, it would reap fruit.

Noey didn’t take to his Nai Nai immediately. In fact, as an infant, he would frequently cry when she carried him. It continued that way for quite a while and it was honestly nerve-wrecking for me when I had to head off to work and leave him in her care for half a day, once a week. I remember coming back to reports that Noey cried a great deal or that he wanted my helper to carry him the whole time.

But credit to my mother-in-law, she didn’t waver. She didn’t throw in the towel, nor did she just take the easy way out and hand him over to my helper more frequently. (Admittedly there were the times back then when I wished that she would, just so that Noey would cry less.) She continued to talk to him, play with him, bring him downstairs for walks, and pat him to sleep.

Gradually Noey stopped crying. Today Noey would readily chime “Nai Nai!” each time he sees her, and would obligingly allow her to carry him. He would run into her arms when playing and he no longer clings to me for dear life the minute I step into the house. He would also point at pictures of old ladies in his books and identify them as “Nai Nai”. Which of course, never fails to draw a smile and laugh from his Nai Nai too.

I’m glad. It’s nice to see that he’s so comfortable with his grandparents. We are family afterall.

(And in case you’re wondering, he’s very okay with his other grandparents as well — his Ah Kong (Ye Ye), Kong Kong and Po Po. And his granddads are definitely more popular with him than his grandmothers! I’m sure it’s because they spoil him more.)