I try to set the best example for my children.
I am not always the one these kids should be looking to for guidance - really - but, I do the best I can.
I keep my house clean.
I keep our clothes clean.
I stand up straight and listen when I am spoken to.
I chew with my mouth shut.
I eat all the food on my plate.
I take off muddy shoes at the door.
I do my best.
The other day, I heard Alexis, talking to her cousin in the upstairs hallway of our house.
Alexis says, "When you get older ... you can color your hair any color you want."
My niece says, "I know," in her, don't-act-like-you're-the-only-one-that-knows-everything kind of voice.
Alexis ignored this snippy response, like I have taught her, and proceeded to say, "When I get older ... I'm going to color my hair pink."
My niece, still acting like she is following this conversation says, "Well ... that is just rid-ic-ulous."
Alexis, finding this snippy comment a bit more than she was prepared to just ignore, says, "You're rid-ic-ulous," in her I'm-going-to-have-pink-hair-if-I-want-to kind of voice.
My niece, tiring of this rid-ic-ulous discussion, turns and walks away, but then swings back around and says, "Well ... I've never seen any real person ... with pink hair. You can't have pink hair!"
Alexis, running after her cousin and almost in tears, screams, "I CAN HAVE PINK HAIR IF I WANT TO HAVE PINK HAIR!" at the top of her six year old lungs.
I am standing at the bottom of the stairs, looking up, and Alexis sees me.
She bows her head and shuffles her feet. She says, "Well ... I can," in a very tiny voice.
On the upside ... I just smiled up at her and shook my head and said, "Yes you can." And then I said, "And ... you can also go and apologize to your cousin for screaming like a crazy person," and she did.
Honestly, I don't know who this child has been watching, where she believes it necessary to SCREAM sometimes at the top of her lungs to get her point across ...........
Oh, now I remember ......... that would be ME!