Somebody's Watching Me

 Yesterday, while talking on the phone to a friend, I caught myself saying a word that I definitely didn't learn from my mother. It is a word that, along with 'crap', 'stupid', 'shut up' and 'suck' was banned in my home growing up and would earn us a nice mouth washing with dial soap. If I remember correctly, my mother in law isn't a big fan of it either. As the word came out of my mouth, I looked down into my arms to see some very big blue eyes watching me. Would I want my daughter to repeat that word? Absolutely not. 

Being an example to someone so impressionable is going to be tough. I am going to have to start remembering that there are always eyes and ears that are learning most everything they know from me and my behavior.  I am going to have to think before I speak in front of her and decide if the topic is appropriate for little ears. 

When I was little, it didn't seem like much was censored from my parents topics and conversation. Looking back, they did an amazing job at allowing us to be children, to discuss things that mattered to us in a respectful and interested way without forcing us to grow up too fast.  I'm not sure what they did exactly, but they raised three children not to swear (well, to very very rarely swear, sorry mom!). Perhaps because they nipped words like 'crap' in the bud. It is hard to make your way to swear words when you know it doesn't take much to get your mouth cleaned out with soap.

Hopefully, I can lead  and Abby can learn by example, because dial in your mouth is not fun. And I struggle with the idea of punishing her. Probably because she is so darn cute.