Children should come with the same warning as rear view mirrors, "behaviors reflected in your child are closer to you than you want to admit". It's easy to pass on the major behaviors, liked don't steal from someone. You see them taking a toy from someone, you stop them and tell them, "That's theirs. You can't take people's things without asking". But your little unconscious flaws get passed on without a thought until one day, Boom, something you do to people all the time gets done to you and you finally see something about yourself that you never had to admit before. I have to admit, I treat every meal as family style, even when we all have our own plate of food. I feel like it's ok to try a bite off your plate. I also wouldn't mind if you tried a bite off of mine. However, that behaviour goes directly against the "That's theirs. You can't take people's things without asking." rule I was so keen to enforce when it was toys at the playground. Having a walking, talking, learning, doing little mirror around forces you to see all the flaws in your own morals, but also all the charms you use to get away with them. After he stole my toast, he made a game out of keeping it away while he giggled so adorably, I couldn't help but get caught up in his little play and pretend to noms him until he gave it back. We both laughed. Then he ate my toast.
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