Henry Eats Boobs

Naturally, when you have a second child, your first is bound to pick up on a few things. I was prepared for that. What I wasn’t necessarily prepared for was the level of observation I would be under every single moment, all day long. This was proven to me one night at dinner when my two year old, very observantly, stated, “Henry eats boobs.” 

My initial reaction was one more of pride in that my very young son recognized that his little brother was eating dinner and he was, in fact, eating my boob. “I mean, yea, Henry is eating my boob,” I answered.

My husband’s reaction however was slightly different and not quite as enthusiastic. “No, Henry eats milk,” he corrected. 

No kidding. My son looked him deadpan in the face and goes, “No. He eats boobs.” 

This back-and-forth continued for a while until it was decided, finally, that while Calvin would not accept that Henry ate milk, he would accept that Henry drank it. 

Now, I don’t particularly care one way or another as I’m sure the kid has already forgotten and we don’t need to make this one of his formative memories (though I will 100% be bringing this up at some horribly embarrassing time in his future) but it makes me wonder what else he is picking up on. What kind of effect do the actions, responses, daily habits that I have, have on him? Even when I don’t think he’s watching, is he noting how I address my husband, what I’m eating, if I seem stressed and short-tempered, how he has to put on new clothes every morning while I somehow show up in the same outfit as yesterday? 

While I’m not going to be able to control everything he takes in, I can do my best to be a good role model. Where it counts, I can take more time with him. I can be slower to respond and kinder with my words. I can stop to explain things he doesn’t understand and put my phone down so I can watch him, yet again, “shoot the basketball in the hoop”. After all, I’d prefer he didn’t end up in Kindergarten still claiming that “Henry ate boobs”.