copy-cats.

or as aidan said yesterday "no, i a copy-dog" ;)

don't worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you. ~robert fulghum

ooooh how true these words are. and we all end up learning the hard way, right? youre in the store and your kid drops his cookie and says "shit". oops. the elderly lady at the end of the aisle grimaces at you intently. looking for you to punish or reprimand. but what can you do except giggle and say "oh no we dont say that" all while knowing: its your fault. (which, btw, it is my fault that sawyer says "oh shit" when she has a poopy diaper. dont' judge. you would say it too if you saw her barnyard-esque poops).

kids are copiers by nature. aidan copies EJ and myself. sawyer copies us all. it all came to light when we were in lowe's a few months ago. they can big car-like carts that the kids just love.

the girls hop in and we're driving down the aisles. til we slow down... and aidan honks the horn and shouts "ASSHOLE!!" for shame on me and my road rage. lol EJ asks "aidan where did you hear that?" and without a beat, she says "momma's car". oops.

it can be the little things, too. sawyer asks "where's daddy?" and when i tell her "the other room" she yells "E.J.!!!!!" throughout the house - as i do. :) sawyer is the biggest copy cat of all. as "monkey see. monkey do." comes to mind when i think of A and S.



so i always remember to quietly remind aidan that sawyer is watching her. and that, perhaps, jumping off the side of the couch was a bad thing to teach her.

simple things such as mannerisms also rub off. memorial day wkend, my SIL's arm was sprained and she had to hold it close to her body. we never talked about it. but aidan noticed. that night she said "i hold my arm right here like nikki". whodathunk that she noticed - but she did. kids are always watching ::twitch::

so, i post this as a simple reminder as you drive through rush hour traffic. i try to yell out "BAD DRIVER!" as often as i can instead of the choice words i used before (or, um, choice gestures?) ;) no better time than the present to teach children about the rules of the road, right?

do you have a story like these? let me know!