They are Watching

I still haven't bought a new used car so this morning it was time once again to take the Taurus in for an oil change and tire rotation.  So far it is still holding itself together probably through my own sheer will power.  Happy thoughts!  Happy thoughts!

While sitting in the waiting area for my turn to check out, ahead of me was a woman with a Russian accent and her daughter that was probably around 5 years old.  The petite little girl with dark hair and eyes was very well behaved.  Her mother stepped up to the counter to pay for the service while she sat in a nearby chair playing with her fuzzy stuffed toy talking to it so quietly her voice couldn't be heard.  Her mother sounded a lot like Natasha from The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show but more melodic.

The discussion became a little louder between the service representative and the mother.  There was a disagreement over how many dollars were on her dealership member account.  She thought there were way more than what he found.  It was about a $50 difference so the mom had to pay more out-of-pocket than she previously thought.  While they did get a bit louder, it was still respectful on both sides and amicably resolved.  What neither of them knew was that the little girl, perched in the chair behind them, watched and listened to the whole conservation.

This quiet little girl looked from Mom to Rep back and forth.  As I watched her watching them, I could tell she was calculating their emotional statuses.  Should she be uneasy or is everything okay?  What is Mom doing?  How is Mom talking?  Will this get worse or should she remain calm?  As her mother and the service rep worked it out, the girl stayed status quo.  Neither of the parties were agitated so neither was the girl.  She continued to feel safe throughout and when the mother turned around to gather her daughter and leave all continued to be well.

What the mother couldn't know was that she had just given her daughter an excellent example of how one behaves in circumstances of differing opinions.  Her daughter watched intently as both parties talked through the issue. While neither one backed down from their realities, there was compromise.  No yelling. No name calling.  No finger pointing.  The mother, just by being herself, showed her daughter how to properly handle oneself.  It was okay to disagree.  Nothing bad will happen.

Children learn by example.

Every day we are examples to others whether we realize it or not.  How we handle ourselves, what we say, our body language.  There are people watching us including little children calculating whether they should model themselves after us or not.