The other night, H says, “Dad, I like your attitude.”  You see, my four year old is no stranger to sarcasm so I looked at her suspiciously and asked what made her say that.  She says, “Well, I thought it was really nice how you took that [extra] lollipop from K and said ‘and, that’s for tomorrow lil’ buddy.’”  Wow... thanks!  What a pleasant and thoughtful compliment.  And, it made me think, “They see and hear EVERYTHING.”  The good and all the bad.  Mind you, I’m notorious for yelling, “Stop YELLING!” or “CALM DOWN!”  Stupid, right?  Model parenting at it’s worst.  

I have had my share of Bad Parenting of the Year moments but I try not to beat myself over it too much.  Sometimes I forget they are just kids.  If it’s way out of line, I apologize swiftly and with all my heart.  As my kids are getting older and constantly testing the boundaries (“habitual line steppers” as Charlie Murphy coined beautifully), I must remind myself constantly, you are not a shepherd, prodding and corralling.  You are a model and they are looking to you to learn how to behave.  So I tell myself, stop yelling if you want them to stop yelling.  Be calm if you want them to chill out.  But honestly, our family might be a bunch of yellers.  Oh well.