Little Sponges

Everyone knows that kids are smarter than you think. They soak up absolutely EVERYTHING they see and hear. Sometimes this is a great thing. And....sometimes it's not.

Last night I had a free second between church and church, (yeah I said that right), to spend a couple minutes with the kids. The girls were just playing along happy as could be. I made the comment about how hot I was, because I just ran 3 miles. Bayler walked over to me and started blowing. What a smart little cookie. She blew on me like I was her food. Sweet little thing.

All of a sudden, Harper hit Bayler with the TV remote. I yelled "no-no", and both kids turned. I forget that I have to clarify which child I'm speaking too, especially since both girls seem to associate NO with Bayler. Because 99% of the time, she is the one who it's directed to. So, I said it again, "NO Harper". As soon as Bayler realized it was Harper that was getting in trouble, she walked over to her, swatted her hand and said "NO". I couldn't believe it. She knows that when it's big trouble, there is a swat on the hand and a loud NO to follow! Part of me wanted to laugh, and part of me wanted to get on to her. Of course, laughter won out.

As I watched them play a little bit longer, I laid down for a brief second on the living room floor. The next thing I know, Bayler has sunken her teeth into my knee! I yelped and let out a SERIOUS NO! Bayler knew immediately that I wasn't playing. She walked straight up to me, making kissing noises the whole way. She reached me and kissed me on the lips! SHE KNOWS! She knew that she was in big trouble and she played the "I'm so sweet, and I'm gonna kiss you now to keep me from getting into more trouble." Of course, this worked. How do you spank a child that just kissed you. Please keep in mind this little devil is 13 months old! I am shocked that she has learned such sophisticated charm skills at such a young age. Definitely her mothers' child.

A few more minutes go by and Harper starts to cry. I look down and see teeth marks and a guilty looking Bayler staring back at me. This time I'm aggravated. I bite her back and say no. She just looked at me like I was mental. I think she either thought, 'Are you seriously biting me right now'? or 'Is that all you've got'? It didn't phase her nonetheless. Kurt just laughed and laughed as all this happened in about a 5 minute time frame. He said, "obviously the spanking and biting isn't working". Really Kurt? Thank you for that observation.

It wasn't 2 minutes later, as Kurt was watching something stupid on the History channel, when Bayler bit him on the leg. Well what did he do? He spanked her butt hard. He was hot. Apparently it's a bigger deal when it's you that has been bitten.

Bayler started bawling. More than anything, she couldn't believe that her daddy had spanked her. She is 100% a daddy's girl. 100%. She cried all of 3 seconds and then just stared at Kurt. If looks could kill, I'd be picking out a coffin today. She crawled away from him and just stared. When he came close to her, she scooted away. When he tried talking to her, she started crying again. Now, talk about comical. I couldn't do anything but laugh. It's a little different when the shoes on the other foot, isn't it?

I headed off to church with a little bit of sarcasm in my step. I know that's hard to believe. But it's true. When I came home that evening, she was asleep with daddy. Hmmm...guess someone felt a little guilty.

Moral of this little tale. Your kids watch you. They pick up things that you can not believe. You are teaching them the ways of the world long before you even know. I, personally am guilty of saying, 'well, when they learn to talk, I'll stop saying that or this'. NEWSFLASH...that time is now. Just because they can't put all the syllables together doesn't mean they aren't getting the meaning behind your words. We are examples. We are gonna be gone one day and these children will be raising their children with the same morals, beliefs and values that they were taught, but more importantly; that they SAW!

What kind of example are you?