To be like me

A few weeks ago Brad and I were chatting with his best friend and wife.  The conversation came around to the personalities of our children. It is amazing how right from birth kids have a distinct personality.  As they grow even a few months you are able to see different things you do come out in them for the good and bad.  Now that Anna is older I cringe as I hear her saying the exact things I have told her.  For instance, I asked her to get some chips the other day.  She brought out the chips and put them on the counter by Brad.  He didn't notice that she did that.  A few minutes later he asked her where she put the chips.  Her reply was "They are right in front of you Dad.  You should look with your eyes."  Oops.  Other times I hear her saying things and I pat myself on the back.  When she is playing with Matthew and he gets into things he shouldn't she will sometimes tell him, "Here Matthew, why don't you play with this instead" and give him an object that is appropriate.  It isn't her saying the exact thing I said, but I'm glad she has picked up on the focus on the positive approach istead of telling him what he can't do.  It is definitely hard to keep myself in check and remember that little eyes are watching me and copying what I do.  It would be so nice if the phrase "Do what I say, not what I do" actually worked.  We all struggle with balancing out the positive and negative traits we learned as children from our parents.  Hopefully as Brad and I raise our wonderful kiddos we can help mold them into picking up on our positive traits not so much the ones I would like to not admit that I possess.

I thought I might right down some traits my children show off now:

Anna:
Caring, stubborn, goofy, intelligent, strong-willed, drama-queen, kind, organized, fashionista, talented, musical, funny, quick-witted, weird (she added that one), active, talkative, risk taker, and tender hearted.

Matthew:
Goofy, snuggly, determined, energetic, stubborn, content, lovey, observer, and a ladies man.  We look foward to seeing what traits appear the older he gets!!