“Don’t worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you.”
-Robert Fulgrum
Children learn through observation. From the time they are born they are learning how to navigate their world and how to treat and speak to others by watching those around them. Through observation, they develop and acquire new skills, attitudes, and values, and as they grow, the actions and decisions they observe subconsciously become their own actions and decisions, whether they realize it or not.
Children watch how we handle stress and disappointment. They watch what we do when we walk out of Target and notice an unpaid item accidentally left in the shopping cart. They watch how we react when another driver cuts us off. (I personally don’t do so well in this area.) Children watch adults mindlessly scrolling on their electronic devices and form their own habits in response.
