The Mirror

I know you've read it over and over again. I know I have read it over and over again. But, sometimes it's just never so clear as when I see it right in front of my face! Our kids are little mimics especially at the age of two it would seem! My daughter is constantly holding a mirror up to me about what kind of mother I am. What I say, what I do, what I want... she repeats it all! On the one hand it's great to have such honest accountability, and sometimes I'm even proud of what I've taught her. But, other times, I'm so ashamed of how much negativity I've displayed for her in such a short time. She's two and she is absolutely as hard headed, stubborn and obstinant as both her father and I. I feel like I'm constantly saying "No", "Stop that", "Don't touch", "behave yourself", etc ... It just broke my heart the other day when I heard her put her little lovey in the corner and tell her to behave and not behave like a naughty girl. I know little Audrey needs discipline, but right now I feel like that's all I do is deal with negative behavior. The other day I was hurrying Audrey to get moving and she looks at me and says "be patient mommy". In some ways it's funny but in others it does make me take a step back and look at the mirror, am I harming her psychologically and emotionally? Or is this all normal? Is it normal that when I pull up to certain stores my daughter immediately says "don't touch", "be a good girl". These are questions I find myself pondering several times throughout the week. I mean how normal is it that my child takes my credit card and swipes it through the crevice in the exercise machine only to look at me and say "I get some money mommy"? Or that she is absolutely as excited about shoes as I am, and she's already my best shopping buddy. My daughter will walk into a clothing store, pull something off the rack and tell me " look mommy, it's cute" or "cool"! My absolute favorite thing to do in this world is shopping and it would seem that I have already passed this onto my daughter. On the upside, she loves to say the blessing at meals, and say her prayers before bed time. She has excellent manners when it comes to saying please and thank you! She even says them in three languages! She loves to give hugs and kisses, even to very new acquaintances. At the end of the day I'm so blessed to have her and I'm so thankful for that mirror. I absolutely want my daughter to know that I love her more than words could describe and I adamantly refuse to let her develop my temper. I guess all mommies are works in progress just like our children. If we are going to mold our children we have to be reflecting and growing as an artist too?