Out of the Mouths of Babes . . .

Do you remember that saying, that little ears have big mouths? My 3 year old must have the world's smallest ears, because he sure does know how to talk! I've been joking around for days that he didn't come with a mute button, but seriously sometimes he needs one. Recently, my mother thought it would be great to teach him the Junk song. As in, "whatcha gonna do with all that junk, all that junk inside yo trunk . . . " Picture a three year old running around at the playground, the pool, Sunday School, the grocery store, singing that. Other kids sing the ABC song, but not mine, oh no, he sings the Junk song.

However, I suppose it is a marginal improvement over the Sexy song, as in "I'm too sexy for my shirt," by Right Said Fred. He picked that one up from Shrek 2, and spent several excruciating minutes screaming it at the top of his lungs in the middle of the mall the other day.

He's also picked up several other bad habits from his dad and I. One day in the house I was running around trying to find the ringing telephone, muttering "oh, sh*t" under my breath the whole time. Miraculously, every time our phone rings now, there goes Sammy, muttering the same thing as he runs frantically around the living room looking for the phone. And he has an endearing habit of saying, "ah, dangit" every time something doesn't work exactly the way it's supposed to (thanks, Mike!).

I can't stand these things - but in all actuality where did he learn them from? Yes, it was Meemar who taught him the Junk song, but every other annoying little habit came right from us. So, whose fault is it . . . the fault lies within. We seem to spend an inordinate amount of time teaching our kids the "right" things to say, and the "right" way to do things. But at the end of the day, the lessons that stick with them are the ones that they learn from observation, not from lectures.

I hate that he has picked up some bad habits from us, but at the same time, when I watch him showing concern for another child who is crying, or when he says prayers along with us, I know that we're obviously doing some things right. So, I'll take the Sexy song any day - as long as I can get a hug from my little man!

What are your kids observing?