Be Careful, Your Children Are Watching
Most people refrain from certain behaviors once they have children, such as swearing, talking about people behind their backs, or otherwise distasteful or impolite behavior. But sometimes it’s not just the words that you say in front of your kids that they might pick up on it’s what you do.
As our daughter has reached toddler age, she has also begun to notice all of the little behaviors and mannerisms my husband and I have both good and bad. Not only does she mimic us when we do certain good things, such as putting our hands to our mouth when we cough and repeating us saying “Bless you,” to someone when they sneeze, but she also will let out an exaggerated sigh when we ask her to do something that she does not want to do. The other day, I had to kill a spider on the wall. Spiders make me jumpy as it is, and having to squish one is definitely not one of my favorite things to do. So I took a deep breath, grabbed a paper towel, and smashed him, squealing in distaste as his life was put to an end. My daughter, of course, witnessed the whole thing, and immediately jumped around the room, saying, “Eeew! Eeew!” Cute, but a good reminder of just how much she sees.
Seeing yourself mirrored in the innocent behaviors of a toddler can be unnerving, to say the least. Suddenly your own bad behavior or traits that you don’t like about yourself are not only being scrutinized by little eyes, but are being acted out as well.
The bright side to this is that she is a little sponge, absorbing every last drop of learning that she can, through our actions and our words. I just wish sometimes that she could be a little more selective about what she chooses to remember and not have to remember Mommy shrieking as she kills a spider.
