Passing it on…

There are obviously certain traits that every parent sees in themselves that they actively pray their children DO NOT inherit.  Of course, those traits and habits have a way of bubbling to the surface in our children.  I think also the more kids you have the more the possibility of the worst of those traits finding its way to your kids.  I spend a lot of time thinking about all the things I don’t want for my kids.  I don’t want my kids to be know it alls and have people turn their backs on them because they just can’t handle being told they were wrong for the one millionth time today.  I don’t want my kids to not have a good verbal filter and lack tact.  There is nothing worse than trying to tell someone something out of love or compassion and having it come off as arrogant and snotty.  I don’t want to pass on my terrible insecurity.

I focus on that a lot.  The bad things I want my kids to avoid.  But, no more.  I am going to start thinking of the good things I am passing on to my kids.  I see thoughtfulness in my older boys towards their little brothers that is a mimic of me at times.  I see creativity that I hope I had a hand in.  I see a curiosity about their world that is still a curiosity I posses.  The one thing I hope that I will continue to pass on to my kids is a love of reading.  A love of discovering new things from book.  I want them to know that learning is not confined to an institution or only done in a controlled environment.  Learning is life….seeing something that excites you and then searching for information.  Learning is living and yes, learning is often best done when pulling yourself out of the mud and the muck and trudging onward.

I just hope they always want to read.  Even if it is The Backyardigans.