“I’ve learned that my influence as a mother is powerful and I don’t want to waste it. Little ears are always LISTENING. The more I watch my twins engage in imaginative play, the more I realize that they mimic MY behaviors (for better or worse!). I hear my own phrases, silly songs, warnings, and encouraging accolades repeated daily. The first time it happened it caught me off guard when I heard Little Princess chastising her beloved “tiny teddy” for not cleaning up: “…and if you don’t do this by the time I count to 5, you’re going in timeout young-lady- tiny-teddy!” It made me giggle at first to hear her innocent voice repeating what I must have declared at some point to her, but also made me reevaluate the tone that I use when I’m discussing timeout because she sounded so stern when she was chastising her bear. That was a wake up call to me and really made me think about how I deliver a message to my babies. In stressful times I try to ask myself, “will I be proud when I overhear her saying it to tiny teddy tomorrow?” I’m not perfect, but at least I’m more aware now! Not only are they listening, they are WATCHING. I have two sets of innocent eyes scrutinizing my every move and learning, not only from what I say to them, but from what I show them. A year ago I made a decision to change my lifestyle and become healthy for myself, but also for them. My husband and I try hard to create a healthy, positive & supportive environment, yet they would see me with my spoon in a gallon of ice cream EVERY night & complaining about my weight! What kind of mixed message and example was I setting for them that way? In every other facet of my life I was trying to demonstrate to them that Mommy was an educated, multi-tasking, enterprising, strong, smart, hard working, loving and dedicated individual, but I admittedly fell short in this area. Within a few days of them watching me and my new eating & exercise routine, they started joining in during my workouts. I was a VERY happy Mommy the first time I overheard “you can do anything for 30 seconds… don’t give up!” through the playroom wall and walked in to see Little Princess encouraging Little Man as he practiced his jumping jacks. We all want what is best for our children, so it’s up to us to use our influence to instill in them a positive self-image and good work ethic for them to imitate. They grow up quickly and won’t be this in tune with our every move forever, so I want to utilize my time with them as a captive audience so they learn to value themselves, their bodies, and their health, in the hopes that they carry my lessons with them as they get older.” – Jennifer