They are Listening
"Language is the means of getting an idea from my brain into yours without surgery. " ~Mark Amidon
I swear my children have some preset mechanism in their brains that turns off when I start to impart some wisdom via a speech. I see their eyes go glassy and I can tell they have stopped listening. I only have a few more years to teach them all they need to know to be successful in the world and they have minimized my rants to something the likes of Charlie Brown's teacher. You remember, the one who comes across as wa,wa,wa,wa,wa.
Just as I had resigned myself to thinking that they aren't listening to me, I let my guard down. I am an animated person. I use analogy's and funny sayings at all times of the day. I was born this way. Only recently have my children started using my catch phrases as their own. Imagine my surprise yesterday when our 13 year old emerged from his room and said "I slept like no tomorrow." That really tickled me. When our youngest was surprised two days ago, he exclaimed "I never saw that coming!" When I drop off the children at school and a place opens up in the back seat where our youngest needs to be to exit the truck, I tell him to "Scootchy Badutchty". As we slid into the pews at church on Sunday he told me to do the same thing. I'm surrounded by little tape recorders who replay all of my own silly phrases.
It is a good feeling to know that our children are picking up some of the things that I thought they didn't hear. It is also a terrifying feeling. There are some phrases, to be honest, that I do not look forward to hearing repeated at a time and place of our kids choosing. If I had known they were listening I would have had some really smart things to say. I would have preplanned some motivating quotes to share, I would have trained my brain to have just the right thing to say that would be an imprint on their brains.
That is the beauty of parenting, you get one chance to do the best you can and then you sit back and watch and hope it was good enough. Time to go brush up on some smart sayings..........
I swear my children have some preset mechanism in their brains that turns off when I start to impart some wisdom via a speech. I see their eyes go glassy and I can tell they have stopped listening. I only have a few more years to teach them all they need to know to be successful in the world and they have minimized my rants to something the likes of Charlie Brown's teacher. You remember, the one who comes across as wa,wa,wa,wa,wa.
Just as I had resigned myself to thinking that they aren't listening to me, I let my guard down. I am an animated person. I use analogy's and funny sayings at all times of the day. I was born this way. Only recently have my children started using my catch phrases as their own. Imagine my surprise yesterday when our 13 year old emerged from his room and said "I slept like no tomorrow." That really tickled me. When our youngest was surprised two days ago, he exclaimed "I never saw that coming!" When I drop off the children at school and a place opens up in the back seat where our youngest needs to be to exit the truck, I tell him to "Scootchy Badutchty". As we slid into the pews at church on Sunday he told me to do the same thing. I'm surrounded by little tape recorders who replay all of my own silly phrases.
It is a good feeling to know that our children are picking up some of the things that I thought they didn't hear. It is also a terrifying feeling. There are some phrases, to be honest, that I do not look forward to hearing repeated at a time and place of our kids choosing. If I had known they were listening I would have had some really smart things to say. I would have preplanned some motivating quotes to share, I would have trained my brain to have just the right thing to say that would be an imprint on their brains.
That is the beauty of parenting, you get one chance to do the best you can and then you sit back and watch and hope it was good enough. Time to go brush up on some smart sayings..........
OOOH sooo funny and oh sooo true! You could be the next mommy stand-up comedian with a moral at the end of every story! I look forward to your snip its of and I love your selected quotes. Where do you find all of them?
Have a great day PAM!~ Deanna
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Deanna,
Thanks so much. How crazy it is to have a little me quoting word for word what I say. It is humbling. I find the quotes from things I have saved, in books, in the paper and on the internet. My favorite website is www.quotegarden.com . All the best ~ Pam
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You are 100 percent right!!
How well you have defined parenting....you do get one chance to do the best you can and then you sit back and watch and hope it was good enough....I love reading your insightful blogs!
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Dee,
Thank you so much! Parenting is for the brave and the strong. (and the exhausted!) Take care! ~Pam
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