Breaking Habits…with the Kid’s Help

When we become parents, our children change many things about our lives. They condition us to need less sleep, they condition us to not get totally grossed out at the presence of bodily functions, and they condition us to be better people around them.

This last statement reminds me of the time my first child was about two years old. We were in a shoe store with a friend of mine and my little one selected several of her favorite styles. She loved trying on shoes. She got especially excited about trying on a pretty pair of white dress shoes with flowers on them. When she couldn’t quite get them on, she surprised my friend and I with a very distinct swear word.

This experience taught me to be careful of what I do and say around my children. They literally soak up everything, including those habits you’d like them not to acquire themselves. And don’t think they don’t hear you or don’t understand when they are little. Habits like swearing, and smoking, are acquired over time and the more often your children see you perform these habits, the more likely they are to acquire them themselves. Making the effort to stop smoking now will not only improve your health, it will also impress the importance of not picking up the habit to your children, and the other young people in your family. And that is a great reason to quit!