There comes a time when you suddenly realize you are not the only person having an influence on your child. Parroting of his toddler friends aside, the first time I noticed this was when Michael developed an obsession with Elmo. I can't remember where we were, but he pointed out a picture of the Muppet and exclaimed "Elmo!" David and I exchanged did-you-teach-him-that looks, and both shrugged, bewildered as to where he would have learned this information. (It turns out nursery was the culprit there. They have a stuffed Elmo that Michael likes to play with).
It is sort of a scary and humbling thing to realize that other people are having an influence on your child. And it makes me grateful that I get to be a stay-at-home mom and don't have to entrust the care of my son's information-sponge brain to a nanny or day care provider. Most of the things he knows he learned from me.
But just to remind me my reach is limited, at the park the other day I went to take a picture of him. "Smile, Michael!" I said.
He grinned from ear to ear and said, "Cheese!"
Where in the world did he learn that?
2 comments:
My sister is anti-Santa, never speaks of him, never reads books about him, etc, and her kids are homeschooled and almost 100% insulated (no, seriously, the stories I could tell). While walking through the mall one day when Annabelle was 4 (a place that they almost never ever ever ever go), she yelled in the happiest voice in the world, "Oh, LOOK! It's SANTA Claus!!" You can run, you can hide, but somehow some things keep sneaking in!
We had the same Elmo experience - turns out, my sitter has a stuffed Elmo. Only Woodstock now calls all Sesame Street characters either "Elmo" or "Ernie" (I did teach her Ernie) - pretty funny seeing as she's never seen Sesame Street!
It amazes me what sponges kids are ... and scares me all at the same time.
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