>Becoming obsolete

>We never are as aware of what we say or do all the time as when it gets reflected back at us.  The best mirrors?  Children.  Every so often I used to overhear one of my students saying something that was clearly something I’d told them.  Or they would finish my sentences for me, making us all laugh at the fact that I had become a broken record.

Now I get to do this on a daily basis with Sebastian.  He will say or do something, look at me, then say what he expects me to say next.  I must confess that he is almost always right, too.  When reading these, you have to imagine that he is the one saying them.

~(screams, then stops suddenly, looks at me, and says): “Can you please be quiet?”

~(upon seeing me after my being away at work or wherever):  “Hi, baby!”

~(while putting on his shoes and jacket to go outside):  “You can open garage door and get into blue seat.”

~(after taking off his hat):  “You have some funny hair.”

~(when getting dressed in the morning): “You pretty handsome boy!”

~(when sharing food at some meal):  “Why does Mama share wif you?  Cuz I YIKE you!”

~(at the playground):  “We hafta take turns.  First it be your turn, den somebody else turn.”

This is the goal, right?  That the lessons we teach them become their inner voices so that we don’t have to keep repeating ourselves.  Sure, I don’t need him to internalize the fact that he gets hat head every day, but maybe it’ll come in useful at some point (school picture day?).

Yet, no matter how often I say it, I have yet to hear an “I love you” from my little parrot.  I did, however, hear, “You love Mama” yesterday.  I’ll take it.