‘These babies, they’re watching our every move. They’re observing and soaking in all they see.’: Mom shares an important lesson on parenting

“These babies, they’re watching our every move. They’re observing and soaking in all they see.

They’re learning from how we respond to their big feelings, setting the stage for whether they will feel safe to express their feelings as an adult or if they will need to suppress and hide them so they don’t inconvenience others.

They’re learning whether or not they can ask for help in the future based on how we respond to their bids for connection or if they need to stay quiet and figure it out on their own.

They’re learning from what we say to them when they explore and do something they’re not supposed to, creating that inner voice in their head that will either criticize them or empower them later on.

They’re learning from how we interact with our spouse, how we speak to them, how we show love to them, how we serve them, providing them their first example of what they think a normal marriage is and learning what is acceptable.

They’re learning from us how we handle stress and learning our coping skills.

They’re learning how big or how small our God is based on how we rely on Him and trust Him in our own lives or if we worry all the time.

They’re learning about what love is based on how we talk about other people and how we serve people or if they hear us gossiping, being critical and self-centered.

They’re learning about their identity by how we talk to ourselves and how we view ourselves or if we are critical of God’s creation.

Are we setting our babies up for needing counseling in the future to process what they experienced and learned? Are our kids going to grow up and say they went to end the generational dysfunction or are we going to end it with our parenting? Are we teaching them to be critical thinkers or to comply and do what they’re told?

We can read them all the books and make them memorize all the songs and verses, but these sweet babies are watching, learning, and adjusting to what they are observing in our home. So the question is, what are our kids learning from us?”

This story was submitted to Love What Matters by Lexxaus Kemp of Georgia. You can follow her journey on Instagram. Submit your own story here and be sure to subscribe to our free email newsletter for our best stories.

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