Impressions

Mike and I talk about what we want to teach our little guy. Confidence, Kindness, Empathy, Love and Honesty are several of the things that come to mind. We say to Aki Bear, "We're going to teach you to be confident. Not like your Mom and Dad." I think we need to stop saying that last part...or all of it really. I think we have to teach him by example - he doesn't need to know that we are not confident people. If he sees us being kind to one another and to others, he will be kind. If he sees us interacting with others or doing a task with confidence, he will model himself after that which he sees. If he hears us telling the truth, he will do so without pause. If we show empathy towards other living things, so will he. If he sees us interacting with each other and him (and the cat!) I hope that through those interactions he will understand love. I think Mike and I learned much from what our parents did. There's this great article over at Offbeat Mama dot com (thanks Kimbra!) called, "I've Started Telling My Daughters I am Beautiful"...it's fantastic. Luckily, Mike walks around the house stating how handsome he is all the time (just kidding, he doesn't do that all the time.) It's a great message in learning by example.