A few days later Essie approached Emma with a baby wipe,
gently swiped it against Emma’s arm and hand and said, “By the way, thank you
for saving my life.”
Now if you know much about Disney movies you probably
realize that both the remark about the book having no pictures and the one about saving her
life are near-direct quotes from the animated version of “Beauty and the
Beast”.
Essie loves that movie as well as Cinderella and a few
others. So you probably think it only makes sense that she would be able to quote from them. But
here’s the deal—she isn’t allowed to watch a lot of television or movies. Her
ability to quote them doesn’t stem from watching them over and over and over
again. No, it comes from the fact that she, like every other child, reacts to
what they hear and see in the same way paper, fabric, or your walls react to
sharpies.
In other words, words, images, and situations make indelible
imprints on our children. You know, indelible, as in they don’t come off or go
away. So here’s my question to you: If these things were so permanently
imprinted on her little mind with such a limited amount of exposure, how deep
and indelible are the ‘marks’ made by the things she is exposed to every day?
Essie is definitely exceptional and special in my book (as
are all my perfectly wonderful grandchildren). But in reality she is no
different than your children in the fact that they all have a heart and mind
full of indelible marks that were made by what we said, what we did, how we
responded, and what we exposed them to.
So I’ll ask again, if your children are permanently marked
by the things they have limited exposure to, how deep and indelible are the
‘marks’ made by the things they are exposed to every day? And are they the
things you really want them to be exposed to?
Love,
Momma D
Copyright 2017 Darla Noble. No part of this can be used or copied without permission from the author.
