Uncensored Behaviors

A reminder for all parents now that summer has begun: your children will drive you crazy.  This is normal and to be expected.  Genealogy is a funny thing.  It is uncanny how our kids are able to intuitively exhibit the very behaviors that most readily bring out the worst in us, their parents.  Ironically, I feel certain the behaviors that annoy us the most are often ones we exhibited to some degree when we were younger. 

The good news is that when it comes to our children, we have a distorted view.  We regularly get “false negatives.”  This means we often see the worst our children have to offer because they don’t usually sensor behaviors around us.  Fear not, children easily ‘code-switch’ and often behave much differently around others.  And since I believe the best predictor of how children will function as adults is how they interact with individuals outside the home setting, that should give us hope.

So be patient.  When we were younger, it took us awhile to figure things out.  The same is true for our children.  Knowing this information is important if for no other reason than in helping us gain some perspective, which may be the very thing that keeps us from snapping when crazy behaviors come calling.