It’s no secret among my friends and family that I have a real weakness for coffee. I’m not so great about brewing my own, but instead I visit a drive-thru coffee place almost every day. It’s not only a caffeine addiction, but it’s become a habit that I’ve tried to get rid of many times without much luck.

It dawned on me recently that this addiction isn’t only my own, but also belongs to my kids because they are usually with me when I head off to the coffee drive-thru. It got to the point to where my young kids were saying things like, “Are we stopping for coffee, Mommy?” Of course, it’s not as if I bought coffee for them, but they did enjoy juice or milk and an occasional cookie. Apparently my habit had evolved into a habit for my kids, too.

I knew it had gone too far when one of my son’s first words was “ar-backs,” which is baby for “Starbucks.”

When I did make the bold move to stop getting coffee my kids noticed it right away. For a few days they protested loudly any time we passed by a coffee place and didn’t stop.

This taught me the valuable lesson that my habits have the real potential to rub off on my kids. When I pop my knuckles, my son looks on admiringly and tries to pop his. When I chew on my cuticles my daughter starts chewing on hers too. I try my best to rid myself of these habits, or at least to only indulge in them when my kids aren’t looking.

At the very least, I’m teaching my kids that nobody’s perfect.