Evie is now a little over two years old. She’s spunky, she’s stubborn, she’s opinionated. Basically, she’s a lot of fun to have around. One of my favorite things to do with her is watch the Dodgers. She’s big enough to follow the action, and can tell when something great happens. She calls Manny Maddie (because that’s her sisters name), and she hasn’t quite picked up on balls and strikes yet, but I’m sure that will come. When the mood strikes her she’ll just crawl up into my lap, sit still and watch the action. I have a tendency to get into the game and will sometimes talk to the screen, “Sit down!” after a big strikeout, or “Good night!” after a homer. I’ll pump my fist in celebration. Lately, Evie has taken to mimicking my celebrations. She can talk well enough to copy my phrases (”Do you think Manny will hit the ball a mile?” she mused the other day), and she fist pumps, smiles, and gives me a five. She doesn’t yet know why, but she knows that this is what you’re supposed to do.
The other night we were laying in bed talking, and Meg said, “We need to teach our kids.” We’ve talked about this before of course, and I don’t know why, but it hit me a bit different this time. It’s almost a cliché that it’s so easy to get wrapped up in just getting through the day, that we forget the true role we need to play in our children’s lives: to teach them. I know I need to do a better job of this. The task can often seem daunting, how am I going to be able to teach my two girls everything they need to know by the time they’re grown. And how much of it will they actually listen to? What am I teaching my kids?
Since that late night conversation I stumbled across a blog that fits right in here. 1001 rules for my unborn son sets out to get together a list of words of wisdom for his unborn son, in his own words “Let’s get some things straight, before I get old and uncool.”
I started at the beginning and have been poring over the entries. This was inspiring for me to take a step back and remind myself that it really is my job to let my kids know the ins and outs of what I know about life. The blog does a fantastic job of summing up important info, offering great quotes, and required listening. It inspires me to do more of those things I should, and to pass those things on to my kids. Great stuff all around.
Tags: introducing, stories
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