Every Little Moment

For all of his crazy antics Mischief is a very thoughtful kid. Not only does he think of others he constantly asks us what the meaning of things are. What a song means, what the point lesson of the story was or what he is supposed to learn from consequences. His curious mind and honest questions have caused us to think long and hard about the decisions we make and the lessons the kids are learning from us ... even when we don't mean to be teaching them.

Since becoming more aware of how sponge-like my kids are I have drastically changed how I interact with the world. It hasn't been easy but I decided that I didn't want my natural cynicism, sarcasm and quick temper to taint how they experience life. I didn't want to force my negativity on their perception of their world so I changed. I changed how I spoke, how I reacted and eventually how I thought about life.

I came across this video a while ago and it shocked me. Its a harsh reminder of how quickly and completely kids learn about life, and how to handle it, from us, their parents, teachers, neighbors .. the adults who surround them and influence them. What are you teaching them, every little moment they are watching you?

I am far from perfect and leagues away from being what I would classify as an optimistic person but I'm trying. I just want my kids to have the best possible chance at finding joy, hope and success in this world. I want them to have the tools to respond to life in a healthy, positive way and how are they meant to do that if I don't teach them?

Children seldom misquote. In fact, they usually repeat word for word what you shouldn't have said. ~Author Unknown