Little Mirrors

Children are our greatest little mirrors aren’t they? They literally mimic back to us the best and the worst parts of ourselves.

I’ve been noticing this more and more lately as Eamon’s personality comes out.  I didn’t realise how affectionate I was, until I commented to Mum one day that Eamon is so affectionate. She replied “You know that’s because you are, right?”.

I think I could quite confidently claim his love for reading though, as Andrew still says he had read more books in the last two years with Eamon then he ever has before.

And as much as I don’t want to admit it, my negative habits are starting to shine through as well now.  I hear my own voice in his when he has make-believe conversations with his toys and is telling them off.  Actually in all honesty sometimes he uses this voice with me when he is not happy with what I’m saying.

His obsession with the iPad says a lot about what I like doing in my down-time and possibly what I spend far too much time doing.

And whilst I won’t claim his stubborness as entirely my own, I have noticed this trait shining through as well.

It defintely makes me think about the things I’d like to pass on, and those I’d rather not have him repeating.  And I’m not just talking about the obvious things like the swear words, which are definitely picked up on as something interesting to repeat now.  But also those things we inadvertedly think and say about ourselves that we pass on almost by osmosis.

+ I don’t want to pass on talking negatively about myself. {you know when you have those bad days where you pick yourself to pieces either out loud to yourself in the mirror}. I don’t want this to be what he repeats about himself, ever.

+ I don’t want to pass on that it’s ok to snap at other people when you’re stressed. {again not something I’m proud to admit that I do.}

+ I don’t want to pass on the tendency to keep doing, doing, doing, rather than just being and enjoying.

So tell me, do you have a little mirror at your place as well?  What habits are you trying to make sure you don’t pass on?