Imitators

I've always had fun watching Andy feed our babies. I don't think he ever opens his mouth that wide, even for the dentist. I was able to capture a couple pics while he was feeding A.

Why do we open wide and say "ahh" when feeding babies? Come on, you know we all do it. We're actually begging our children to open up and eat. We're showing them what we want them to do, and the crazy thing is that they follow our lead. They imitate us, and we're able to shovel it in.

This reminded me of a scary thought, though. What else are they imitating? I have to continually remind myself that I always have little eyes watching me and little ears listening. It's amazing how quickly our children pick up and mimic our actions and words.

BEWARE: Confessions of a Pastor's Wife
Point in case -- A couple weeks ago we were having one of those frantic family moments. I can't even remember where we were going, but it was time to load up and leave, but things were moving far from smooth. It was one of those times that if something could go wrong, if one child could spill all over the floor, another spit toothpaste on her shirt, another be gloomy and refuse to move it along quickly, another have a diaper poo blowout, etc.... it happened. And I admit it, I lost my cool.

It's hard to describe me losing my cool, because it's not the average explosion. I'm not screamer. My moments aren't expressed as much in anger, but rather disgust and let down. If you can imagine me in my nicest voice saying, "Oh dang it, ladies. It's time to go. Let's focus please."

Oops. I did it. I introduced a new word to the girls' vocabulary. I cringed as I said it. I didn't correct myself because I was hoping it would fly by deaf ears, and the damage would be minimal.
I wasn't so lucky. A couple days later as we were pottying before loading up in the truck I heard C say, "Dang it my sisters. Let's go." Yep, she heard it and was using it for the first time.

We had a little talk.

Mom: C sweetheart. I know you heard Mommy say that word, but it's not a very nice word. I shouldn't have said it. I'm sorry. Let's try hard not to say that word ever again.
C: But Mom. I don't even know what dang it means.
Mom: I know sweetheart. You were just copying Mommy, but I didn't set a good example for you. I should have never said that word. I'm sorry.
C: OK Mom. I'll help you remember not to say it ever again.
Mom: Thanks hon.

So if you ever hear my precious C say "dang it" please remind her that it's not a very nice word. And don't fuss at her and punish her severely, she was just imitating her mommy. And her mommy is working on setting a better example, at all times, because little ones are watching and imitating.