Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Reflected in my child's eyes?

Children love to mimic their parents. That's how they learn to deal with social situations and whatever else life throws at them. There's nothing like watching a child play "house" with their dolls to know how they view you. One parent realized that retreating to the laundry room to argue with her spouse was not hiding anything when she saw her daughter send Barbie and Ken to the laundry to have "a discussion". 
Now, I've been quite truthful that having children leads ones to drink. The drink may have got us in the position of having children, but it's also the drink that keeps from going insane once the children arrive.
Neither my spouse nor I are heavy drinkers. We enjoy the occasional glass of wine with dinner every now and then. A cold beer is refreshing and welcome on a hot summer day. Do we drink with every evening meal? No. In fact, I thought we averaged a bottle of wine a week.
Perhaps more, according to Aisling.
Last night, Aisling and I enjoyed some play time in the tub. As I washed her hair, she babbled while she played with the various bath toys. In particular, she filled a cup with sudsy water, and then balanced it on the edge of the tub. "Be careful, don't spill your wine," she admonished when I requested she lean back.
"Pardon?" not sure that I heard correctly.
"Don't spill your wine," she repeated quite clearly.
"What's in the cup?"
"Your wine. You want to drink your wine?" she asked as she offered me the cup.
While I pretended to sip, my mind was racing. Did we really drink that much in front of the kids? Do we have a drinking problem?
When my husband came up to the bathroom to retrieve the now clean Aisling, she also offered him a cup of "wine".
In response, he asked her who drank wine?
Her answer was telling.
"You, mommy. Devlin drink milk. Ceilidh drink milk." At least she knows it's a grown-up drink.

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