I cook really hard eggs. Runny eggs are not an option in my house, because they absolutely make me gag. Ladies, you know that one thing that tormented you during your pregnancy that ended up hanging around even a decade later? Yep, mine was eggs. I could not stomach them during each pregnancy and still to this day runny egg yolk makes me want to throw up.
At my parents place recently my Mother cooked the kid’s eggs on toast. She cooked them super runny, and I was all like “No, No! The kids won’t eat them like that!!” Flash forward 15 mins later and my two children are sitting at the table with massive yellow grins and a totally demolished plate in front of them, egg dripping off their chins. They freaking loved them (and I refused to go near them until Husband had cleaned them up, washed their hands with copious amounts of hand wash and brushed their teeth.. #badmummy).
It got me thinking about other dislikes and habits that I have unnoticeably forced onto my children. And once I started really thinking about it, I found more than I would probably care to admit. My children have never had peas, because hubby and I don’t eat them. They won’t leave the house without shoes on because I can’t bear the thought or feeling of bare feet in public. Dora and the Wiggles drive me freaking crazy – have my children ever watched them? Nope.
I wonder how much of it is forced habit for them now because I have been doing it for so long, or how much of it is personal preference for them? Especially food related things. Daddy likes his chocolate in the fridge, I like mine room temperature – the kids both prefer theirs room temperature. Is that their personal preference or just habit from me being the at home parent more and having the chocolate in the cupboard? How many of our own idiosyncrasies do we really pass on to our children without realising it? And how many have been passed on to us? I know the whole ‘no bare feet in public’ thing was actually a pet hate of my Mothers that I adopted and have now passed onto my two. I also don’t eat fish or seafood at all – neither do my parents.
I know as parents we pass on life lessons, manners, morals etc. as we should. That is us shaping these little people into the respectful and caring adults we want them to be. I also recognise that our negative habits can be passed on just as easily which is something we REALLY need to be aware of as parents. A 6 year old cannot have a hateful attitude towards a skin colour or a sexual orientation in someone unless they have been taught that from the adults around them. Unfortunately this is how hate, ignorance & hostility are spread around the world.. we inflict it on our young. Be aware parents – these special little miracles come into our lives as blank slates and we are the ones that permanently chisel in stone the foundation of their being.
But what else do we ‘chisel’ in to them? How conscious do we have to be about mundane little things around them every day too? We’re supposed to make them try things we don’t like so they can make their own informed decision, but how many of us really purchase that bag of brussel sprouts we despise just so the kids can taste them for dinner one night and see if they’re a fan? Do you?
I will now try to be more conscious of what I offer my children in terms of choices, whether it be food, sport, books or even friends. I will guide them through those decisions also and let them know it’s ok if they do like it even if Mummy doesn’t, especially because our children are constantly looking up to us for our approval. And I may even step out of my old ways and Mummy comfort zone and start trying a few new things with them.
Except the eggs. Sorry kids – if you want runny eggs, go to Nanny’s.
About Haylie D, Haylie D photography
Haylie is the Owner & Head Photographer at haylie D photography. She specialises in Newborn, Birth & Maternity fine art portraiture and lives on the gorgeous Gold Coast. She is the Mama to two beautiful children aged 7 & 9 and a wife to the most fabulous and supportive man a girl could ever ask for… though he could pick up his dirty socks once and a while to help a Mama out 😉 “I LOVE running my own business, my home and of course my beautiful family.. I truly am blessed.”
She has been in business since 2013 as a Newborn photographer, though she also ran her own online little girls boutique (Little Miss Fascinated) for 4 years prior to that too.
