Reflection

It starts early. When we are babies, we are mesmerized by this little creature that looks back at us in the mirror, does what we do and makes faces at us. We are completely fascinated by this person.

Fast forward 12-13 years, adolescence sets in and we comb over our faces in the mirror, looking at every blemish, scrutinizing every "imperfection" as we see them. We are our own worst and toughest critics. This seems to continue for a long time. At least for me it did. Always wondering if others saw the same thing I saw in the mirror.

Then I had children. And I realized that the mirror is not really an accurate reflection of me. My children are. When I stub my toe and Luke wants to kiss it better for me, that's a reflection of me. When Luke says please and thank you, is kind to his brother and other children, that is a reflection of me. When I loose my cool and accidentally utter the words "shut up" when both children are screaming at the top of their lungs, only to have Luke tell me to "shut up" later, well, that too is a reflection of me. Not something I'm proud of, but happened all the same. And it showed me, in a glimpse the power of words and actions; that the kind of person I am and how I teach my children to behave and cope with life, is a reflection of me. I must lead by example.

My mother said to me once, "Teaching your children to cope with life is the greatest gift you can give them." She is a wise woman. I hope I do as a good a job at being a parent as she did.