Last Sunday my wife Mary and I noticed a cute, preschooler dressed in blue and white seersucker shorts and a white polo shirt standing with his identically attired dad. Mary remarked to the father on how nice his little boy looked. Dad replied that Junior dressed first and then said to Dad, “Let’s match.” So dad donned the same outfit. I must say that Son looked neater than Dad in his shorts and polo yet, both were obviously proud of the “match.”
Parents need to know that kids like to emulate their parents in everything they do. Country music artist Rodney Atkins in his 2007 hit song “Watching You” hits it on the head. In the lyrics, a young boy curses and when the dad asks where he learned the offensive word the boy explains that he’s been watching his dad. He thinks what his dad says and does is “cool,” and he wants to do everything he sees his dad do. Country singers so often tell things the way they are. That’s one of the reasons people like them.
To paraphrase one of my teen patients: “Be the adult you want your child to become.”