Originally published Friday, 10 May 2013.
When my 2nd daughter, Kaitlyn, was three, she had what we refer to as the “My Syndrome.” Meaning, whenever she needed to say “I”, she would replace it with “MY!”
Like so:
Can MY have some?
Mommy, MY Hungry.
MY can do it!
Leave MY’lone!
No MY not!
Now MY know MY ABC’s….
And the all-time favorite: CanMY play on your MYphone?
Get the picture?
As you can imagine this was very cute for a girl her age, and before we knew it it had also become very normal. More often than not we smiled and even asked her to say it again! After-all she was only 3 and as cute as a button! I remember telling someone, “oh well we will just work it on when she’s older.”
Fast-forward 2 years and my precious Kaity was still stuck in her “My Syndrome!” I have to admit it wasn’t really all that cute on a 4 year old. However, bad habits are hard to break, especially if they have not been corrected, often encouraged or usually reinforced.
Let’s do some forward thinking. What behaviors have we ignored, allowed and even praised in our kids that just won’t be cute when they are older. Everything from the clothes they wear when they are 5, to the songs they sing when they are 10, will play a part in creating what they consider normal when they are 18. It is up to us to decide what will be praised and what will be corrected.
Let’s work on creating the normal we want now, so we can enjoy later!
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