A miniature reflection...

Who needs a mirror when you have 3 little kids around to reflect the real you, for better and for worse.

Today I overheard Drill Srgt. Ky, laying down the law, complete with -the Mommy Stink Eye (which looks so much like her Nana's, it's scary).

Ky: "Uh-oh Bridgey. UH-OH (envision: evil eye, hands on hips). I'm the Mommy and you need to obey. Do you understand? Bridgey..."

While not yet fluent in English I think he got the idea, because he replied, in standard Bridgey Protocol: "NO!" and a simultaneous smack to the head. Sighing to myself, I again vow to be the picture of patience with a smile and a plate of cookies for good measure, that a "good" mother should be.

Sometimes as I am curtly correcting a kid I have this flash of insight: These are Heavenly Fathers babies too. How would I feel if someone spoke that way to my kid and dragged them by their hair (okay that's a bit excessive but I have thrown Ky over my shoulder while she was kicking and whaling loud enough to wake the dead, winning the sympathy of every person in the Lethbridge mall.)

Thinking of my kids as belonging to someone else helps me be more patient. And, see them as little people exploring their world, boundaries, and mother's self restraint.

Another of my less desirable traits Ky has taken up is: grrrr....ing. She's practically as good at it as I am... practically. Some of Ky's more common reason to grrr...

• not getting the 'square bowl' for breakfast.
• pants
• shirts without puff sleeves
• denying her 50 requests to 'cut and dye her hair black like Snow White's"
• letting Bridgey be the "Guest" and by that I mean letting him pick which color cup he wants at lunch.
• reminding her who's the Mommy
• washing her blanket
• lunch items without cheese
• non heel-shoes
• non bow-shoes
• pony tails as opposed to "Ballet Buns"
• chastisement for wearing dresses off the shoulder.

The truth is, in retrospect (definitely not in the moment) I love these quirky things about my little feisty princess, who's become a fabulous Copy Cat (speaking of which she learning how to spell C-A-T today at school).

She seems to notice and then copy everything I do, right down to the day I wore a shirt with a bit of a plungy neck line. I was just wearing it under a sweat shirt but the next thing I knew, there was Ky tugging at her modest shirt in attempts to be like mom. Or how about the time she wore a shoe lace around her bosom for days because she wanted a bra like Mommy's.

In the last few months I've come to realize just how important my example is. How close they watch and quickly they absorb.