Modeling

The other day, Elise, my parents, Wes and I were playing a rousing game of Go Fish. Whenever someone would ask Elise for a card she had in her hand, she would make this silly throaty sigh to express her irritation for having to fork over the card. We all found it amusing and wondered where it came from.

Fast forward a few days, I'm doing something around the house, honestly I can't remember what. But I encountered a minor frustration - just something slightly irritating that created more work for myself - and all the sudden I hear myself making this throaty sigh of annoyance.

I am the cause of Elise's silly noise - I make that noise. The reality hit me - this girl is watching me and she's modeling me. Not that I didn't realize it before, but now there is evidence. What other qualities, actions, idiosyncrasies have I passed on to my little girl? Are they good, are they not so good? Probably some of both. I'll be watching myself more carefully these days to make certain my words of instruction to my girl match what I am showing her with my actions.