Monkey see, Monkey do, Monkette do...

Tim and Alexa have reached the imitation stage of their growth. Last night, for example, at dinner, I finished before the kids did (Mom sneaked some broccoli in to their food, which slowed them down big time). I relaxed a bit as a dad is wont to do after work, so I reached my hands back and folded them behind my head and sighed deeply.

Seconds later, my son decided to do the same thing, sigh and everything.

I chuckled as he did this because he then said, "I'm being like Daddy!" I lost it completely, however, when seconds after that, my daughter, Alexa, tried to be like Timmy, but, instead of putting her hands behind her head, she simply put them on top of her head and breathed in and out kinda fast (that was her sigh).

After that, any sound I made or any movement was quickly imitated by my son. And, seconds later, Alexa would attempt to imitate Timothy.

It was hard not to see the life lesson there. See, as a parent, I am responsible for how Tim acts and what he learns from me will inluence not only his own life, but his sister who idolizes him. Long gone are the days of excuses where I could say that my actions affect my own life (not that it was true then, either, only now it is empirically false). The joy of being a parent is something that does not go away. But the responsibility of a parent is that ever present companion to joy.

Every night we try to read to the kids. We first get my Bible, sing "Deep and Wide", "Jesus loves me" and even throw in "Itsy Bitsy Spider" because they love it so (yeah, I know...its not all that spiritual). I then read from the Bible, we sing some more, and then I read from a story (Chronicles of Narnia, currently).

Tim has gotten to the point that he can sing and do the motions really well. He also likes to "pray like daddy." So, when he prays at dinner, he even though his mom leads him in the words, he is always looking at me for approval. Wow! What a delicate responsibility there!

It will only be a matter of time before Alexa does the same. May God be pleased to grant me wisdom, patience, and consistency while Shannon and I do this parenting thing.