Baby Talk

I love frosty mornings!!!  Today is one of those...it just seems so crisp and fresh, doesn't it?  It makes me want to get out there and take a walk/jog just so I can feel the cool air burning in my lungs.  That's what I'm gonna do as soon as I finish this!  I first wanted to write about this while it was on my mind.

The other day I was changing Jake's diaper I could hear Emily talking "baby talk" to Jake.  She was saying something like, "Is Mommy changing you diapa?"  Then she said, "Wah go pay in minit?"  As I was listening to her I started thinking about how I don't like "baby talk" because as Jake is learning to talk, he needs to hear the right pronunciations of words so that he can eventually get them right.  If he always hears baby talk, he'll never get it right!

When a child is learning to talk, we model to them the right words, sometimes intentionally and sometimes without realizing it.  And when they first start talking we laugh and think it's cute how they don't "get it" right away (you can tell I love this from reading my blogs)!  Do we fuss at them and raise our hands in surrender and declare "No hope!" when they say "moy" instead of "more"?  No!  Do we get worried that they'll never learn to walk when a child falls down as they are taking their first steps?  Of course not--that would be absurd.  Well, I must confess that sometimes I am more tempted to do that when it comes to issues of character in my children.  But why would I expect them to "get it" right away?  

I realized that morning that I need to show the same kind of patience toward them in all aspects of learning as I do when they are learning to walk and talk.  The most important thing for me is that I model good character qualities such as compassion, forgiveness and unselfishness.  Then, just as they learn how to talk from hearing correct pronunciation, they will learn good character traits from seeing them.  Unlike walking and talking though, instilling good character traits takes years.  But that gives me a chance to model patience, right?  I just recognize that in just about everything I do, there is an opportunity there to teach my children about living for God.  And just like walking and talking, I trust God that one day He will help them understand and they will take off on their own!