Saturday, January 16, 2010

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Parenting is such a peculiar occupation - you do it constantly even if you don't intend to. It is annoying at times because often the kids picked up something that you would not want them to learn - bad habits, for example. Both of my boys bite their lips and there is no way to deny that this "gift" came from me. Once in a while though they surprise me by showing that my nagging is taking its hold.

From my childhood I was taught that it is rude to refer to a third person in his/her presence using a pronoun (she/he), you should always use his/her name. As in, "Aleksandra asked you to do something" instead of "She asked you to do something." when Aleksandra is standing right there. I have been trying to pass it on my kids and those seemingly fruitless attempts felt exasperating.

Today I heard them both catching and correcting themselves on exactly this point. While having breakfast and chatting about dreams the younger one said "Remember that weird dream, sh...(quick glance in my direction) mom told us about?" and later in the day the older one corrected himself while speaking with his friends.

I hope that someday they will learn to keep their elbows off the table as well.

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