At the end of the musical “Into the Woods,” there is a song called “Children Will Listen.” As a child, I loved the show because of the fun characters. As an adult, it’s the final song that hits home for me — the antagonist (the witch) has it right when she says, “Careful the things you do. Children will see and learn. Children may not obey, but children will listen. Children will look to you . . . to learn what to be.”
As we grow, we become increasingly independent (rebellious even — sorry, Mom and Dad), but the influences children are exposed to can imprint on them even at a young age. Whether it’s intentional or not, children are listening even when you don’t think they are.
Recently, I’ve been keenly aware of the new habits my soon-to-be kindergartner has picked up — some good, some not so good. A few days ago I heard him drop a curse word while playing with his toys. (In his defense, he did use the word in the right context!) Some say kids are a “mini mom” or “mini dad.” But my son? He’s the epitome of a “mini us.” Send help as he gets older!
He’s stubborn
I’m going to throw this toward both of us because my husband and I are extremely stubborn, for better or for worse.
He loves snacks
I’ll take this one. I have always loved to cook (and eat), and while my bonus kids had “dessert stomachs” when they were younger, my son definitely has a “snack stomach.”
He’s (still) polite
Manners have always been important to me. I remember my mother used to touch her ear as a reminder for a “thank you” when I was little. Amazingly, we don’t have to remind my son, and we are lucky he understands the importance of being polite and remembering to say “please” and “thank you.”
He’s competitive (well beyond sports)
I’d like to think this is a phase, but my 42-year-old husband and 16-year-old stepson have yet to outgrow this, so I think it’s here to stay. He knows when the Celtics play, he yells at the television with his dad, and everything is a game that must be won. Once, while swimming, he commented that there were more boys than ladies in the pool, so the boys were “winning.”
He goes with the flow
We are constantly saying how lucky we are that even though he’s 5, he can hang. When life gets busy, he has no problem keeping up, but he also appreciates the slower days when we have nothing to do.
I suppose this stage between 4 and 5 might seem minor to some, but when I think about how much is going to happen between now and the fall when he starts kindergarten, it feels necessary to acknowledge the end of the little kid stage! He’s going to meet a whole new group of kids his age, make friends, compete on a team, try lots of new things, and make many new memories. Are we ready?
