Daddy's little girls

I was laying down the other night while Joe got our three kids ready for bed. My door to my room was open so I could hear the commotion going on in the other room. Kids were laughing, loud pounding sounds were coming out of the room and then howls like little wolves. They were all having a good time in there. The loudest one was, of course, Gabriella.

As I imagined the games that were being played in their room and the memories my husband was building with his children I had a question come to me...

Do fathers understand how they mold their daughters at a very young age?

My experience with several people I know is that they feel their time to mold their kids come at a later age in life. My daughter Gabriella is almost 5 years old, her dad RIGHT NOW is determining what kind of man she will marry by the way he raises and interacts with her. That is pretty powerful to me.

At this young age we give Gabriella a picture in her head of what kind of man she is going to want, we determine how she is going to feel about food, view her body, how giving of a person she will be. Will she be an honest person, will she continue to be outgoing, confident, will she be too trusting. All of these aspects of who she will be is being groomed right now and we have to be so careful with everything we do with her. Kids are sponges and they take a mental picture and file it in their little brains and then refer to it later in life.

How many times have I recalled an experience from my childhood that determined why I handled something as an adult the way I did... many times!

The other day Gabriella was in the car in her car seat behind me while I was driving when she blurted out "I am doing everything you are doing mommy!" I looked in the mirror and she had her hand rested on the window the exact way I had mine and I thought to myself, she watches everything.... am I doing everything I would want her to do?

Our kids grow so fast and there is so little time to make up for loss memories, lessons or take back mistakes.

Today I have a better appreciation for being a mother. With the Grace of God I am going to learn to be a better mother and remember that even when I do not think they are, my kids are always watching and learning from me and I need to be the best example I can be to them in all areas of my life.

Today I also have a better appreciation for my husband. Not only because he is my husband but because he is a wonderful father and is doing a great job at raising our five kids. He is truly a blessing to us all and I hope he knows how much we all love him and how much we all look up to him, especially his two daughters.