Pride

There is nothing as joyful as the praise of your child. I do not experience it very often so I will take it when I get it 😊! It was with immense pride that my son  recently declared to a friend that his mom is an "amazing storyteller" and writes a blog. Granted that it was all in an attempt to impress the friend but nonetheless I was glad that he chose to highlight that characteristic of his otherwise ordinary mom.

It was also humbling moment. That moment reiterated for me what most of us know as parents but scarcely see it demonstrated so clearly- our kids observe EVERYTHING we do and learn from it every moment of every day. Which means we have an immense responsibility to be a worthy role model for them. Yes they will interpret what they see, color it with their own perceptions, but we give them the foundation on which they can build their version of the world.

What's more, they will likely learn from something you least expect just because the novelty of it struck a chord with them!  So if given the opportunity get creative in how you demonstrate values, life skills and other life lessons- run a marathon, bake cookies with friends, coach a school team, maybe even write a blog! It will be worth the pride in their ever watchful eyes.