Role modelI’m pretty confident when I say I have most things under control at home. But when it comes to driving, that’s where I fail miserably. I got my driving license 10 years years ago, and by right, driving to me should be easy peasy by now. But just like teaching a child to ride a bike, we all know that practice makes perfect. And that sums up why I’m so lousy at it because no drive equals no practice.

Over the weekends, I had to drive. Had to because my dear husband extracted two of his wisdom teeth and was feeling very uncomfortable behind the wheels. So as his wife, here’s when I have to rise to the occasion to relieve him. So I agreed to take over, grudgingly.

My little back seat driver was observing me and parroting Alexis’s instructions to me to slow down, drive straight, don’t turn so fast. Sensing that I was getting more and more frustrated as I drove, she told me,  “Mummy, don’t drive until so angry. Just drive. Drive slowly okay.” In my head, I thinking that having her in the car is such a bad idea as she’s seeing the worst of me.

At some point when I have to manuveour between changing gears and the hand brakes to go up a slope, I nearly burst out crying and exclaimed exasperatedly at my husband and child, “I’m trying, I trying my best ok!”

And my dear 4-year old said gold that afternoon.

”Yes, mummy, you must try. Most important is to try and you will learn. This is what you taught me, right?”

Upon hearing her reminder, my heart swelled with pride as tears started to well up in my eyes, and all I wanted to do was to hug my little cheer leader for her encouragement. It was a precious and teachable moment for me, as I was reminded of how I am my child’s greatest role model. My constant reminders to Sophie to keep trying and give her best didn’t fall on deaf ears as she was now teaching mummy the same lesson about tenacity and not giving up.

As parents, we have tremendous influence on our children’s life. And the words I say or even the unspoken body language on how I react to stressful, tough situations do not go unnoticed by my child’s watchful eye.  I pray I will never be the parent who says, “Do what I say, not what I do.” That’s why it’s important to be aware of how we are behaving in front of our kids so that, we, ourselves model the kind of person we would like to raise them up to be.

I’m still a work in progress and hope that Sophie sees that as we all learn to be a better person each day.

How are you a role model for your child?

This is an original post by Susan Koh for World Moms Blog. She’s loves to travel and blogs passionately about parenting, marriage and relationship and leading a healthy life at www.ajugglingmom.com.

Photo credit to the author.

Susan Koh

Susan is from Singapore. As a full-time working mom, she's still learning to perfect the art of juggling between career and family while leading a happy and fulfilled life. She can't get by a day without coffee and swears she's no bimbo even though she likes pink and Hello Kitty. She's loves to travel and blogs passionately about parenting, marriage and relationship and leading a healthy life at A Juggling Mom.

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