like mother, like child.
I am often drained by the things my children do:
- I keep tripping over toys today. The same toys I've asked/told my children to pick up numerous times.
-Their whining and fighting can make my very hairs stand up. Even sweet Abigail has learned to yell back at her older brother and sister and boy oh boy, can that girl yell!
-I'm quite certain that they have selective hearing. They can hear quite perfectly, "would you like a treat", but somehow the message gets lost somewhere between my lips and their ears when I say, "please come get dressed" or "it's time to go potty" or "help me clean up your room".
-They are not as compassionate to eachother as I wish they would be. It nearly breaks my heart to see one of them hurt another and not feel sorry about it.
And then today, it seems that I'll notice how very much they are mimicking me:
-I will trip over my own mess that I have failed to clean up.
-My own tone can sound like a whine or my volume is a little more loud than normal which could very much sound like the volume of their fights.
-I find too often Hannah repeating something to me because I am distracted and "not listening" to her.
-Just today I showed no compassion whatsoever while teaching Hannah some responsibility that put her into tears. Yep, not a bit of compassion. And yes, I did feel badly afterward.
Although, I do try not to beat myself up too much about mothering, since it is the HARDEST job in the entire world, it also scares me to see myself in them when it's the ugly self you see. Fortunately, there is opportunities to teach about love, forgiveness, patience, sacrifice, honesty, compassion, and so forth. It is these times I cherish, especially when I can see their little minds processing what I am saying. It is then, and only then, that I realize that I am setting a good example.
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