I’m a nail biter. Always have been and always will be, at least off and on. Right now, all my nails have “a little white” on the ends but on any give day they could have no white or twice to three times as much as they do now. You just never know with me.
And guess who else is a nail biter? Yep, that’s right. My 5 year old. I actually had to check the “YES” box next to the question “Does your child bite his/her nails?” on his Kindergarten paperwork. I tell him not to do it but then there I sit next to him on the sofa, doing exactly what I’ve just told him not to do. What’s that word again? Oh yeah, Hypocrite.
So, the other day, as I was chompin’ on my “whites” he said, “Mommy, quit biting!” and it hit me – what other bad habits or quirks will I pass on to my kids that I SO did not mean to, but just kinda happened?
Will it be the way that I leave clutter and “piles” in certain parts of the house?
Or perhaps the fact that I leave the t.v. on a lot of times just for background noise.
Or maybe the way I neglect to make my bed anymore unless company is coming (namely my Mother…)
Or my shopping chocolate, blogging addiction….
Anyway, I just wonder. Of course there are positive things that they could take from me as well. Although I don’t have a list of those right this moment.
So last night as I lay next to my little nail biter, tucking him into bed, I snuggled up closer to him while thinking about how the decision to bite his nails is only the beginning of the indepedent choices he will make. And as he drifted off I prayed an extra prayer that he would grow up to make good choices in his life, for his life and those he brings into it in the future.
And then I figured if biting his nails turns out to be on par with the worst thing he ever does, then I’ve done a pretty good job as his mother after all…
(Dear God, please let it be on par with the worst things he ever does. Amen)
So of course I have to pose the question – what little habits or quirks are you afraid of passing on (and don’t worry, I won’t judge)?
Oh and if you haven’t “voted” on the gender of the baby yet (we find out on Thursday), check the left sidebar and vote! : )
Hi Elaine
Thursday is the big day. I just cast my vote and I’m going with a girl. I read your earlier post where you talked about your pregnancy and I am convinced this baby is a girl. It was so lovely to see your 19 week belly photo, you look fabulous. I have my fingers crossed that your baby doesn’t have everything crossed and you are able to find out!!
Elaine, I have to admit I am a nail biter too. Why on earth do they have a question relating to this on a kindergarten form? Perhaps we could quit this bad habit together. Then we can go and treat ourselves to a very luxurious manicure. What do you think?
Wishing you all the best for Thursday.
Lots of love
Elise
That was a really sweet post!
Why did they ask that on the kindergarten paperwork? Strange.
I used to be a chronic nail biter, then I stopped for a long time. Now I’m fighting the habit again. I tend to bite my nails when I’m reading. Husband calls me on it all the time. Taking pre-natal vitamins helps me, because my nails grow quickly and I don’t want to wreck them. But I’m not taking those right now. Maybe I should, just for the nail benefits.
I am sure I am passing on bad habits. A tendency to do the minimum cleaning wise is the worst. But I have also passed on a love of reading, at least in my girls. My heart sings when I see them reading.
I too am a nail biter, and a cheek biter. Not great habits. I even got a gum line infection around one of my teeth from whatever bacteria was on my nail. Ugh…the dentist gave me a lecture. So I hope Cole will not pick that habit up
I am with you though, if that is the worst thing…I can live with it
I wonder if my kids will pick up my lack of organization. I work on it all of the time but it does not come naturally to me.
My 8 year old is a nail biter, just like his dad. It kills me to see him doing that! Course, I can’t understand why that would be on the kindergarten form, either.
I am a nail biter and have been since I was a child. Brian bites his nails, too, so our kids are doomed, right? Well, BJ started biting his nails at 3, and I managed to get him to stop by telling him to get his hands out of his mouth everytime I saw them there! Thank goodness it worked. Now I’ve become a closet nail biter so as not to set a bad example 🙂 HA!
Bad habits I’m probably passing on to my kids: procrastinating, putting things off, waiting till the last minute. Well, you get the point! Not exactly the best habit to have!!
Good habits: eating healthy, exercise, reading, saying I love you a million times a day, lots of kisses (only for mommy & daddy!), etc.
This was a great, great post, girl!
p.s. I think you’re having a girl, mainly because I think you need one 🙂 Trust me, it’s fun to buy girl things!!
Yeah I think if nailbiting is the worst habit he picks up then you are in pretty good shape 🙂 But it does make you think about how the little things you do affect them!
Repeat after me, “Do as I say, NOT as I do!”
I remember my mom saying that repeatedly when we were growing up. And I say it to my kids all the time.
There are too many things to list here that I am passing on to my kids that aren’t necessarily good habits. I just hope and pray there are a few good things to balance it all out, you know?
oh my bad habit list on this one is long…and i thought i had a few years before any of them started – i was wrong!! how do they pick things up so darn quick??
can’t wait till thursday!!
I bite my nails too, and my son who is now 16-hated watching watching me do this when he was younger. Now he does this, and blames me for it. You can never win, lol. Another thing I do is use the spicy sentence enhancers as Spongebob and Patrick call them. Not all the time, but often enough so that my daughter picks up on it and tells me to stop being such a pottymouth. Now mind you, I probably only say it once a day-like when something falls on my foot or I’m late for a meeting, etc… but hopefully she won’t pick up on it and take over my own bad habit. Hmmm, she has offered but I haven’t yet consented-to wash my mouth out with soap… specifically the BBW antibacterial Coconut Lime Verbena that sits in my bathroom right now. Maybe I will let her do it, and carry on clean conversations from now on, lol.
Oh yes, I wonder what bad habits she will pick up from me, too! It can be scary to think about what a huge infulence we are.
But I have to brag that I DON’T bite my nails anymore! I was a biter all my life, but in the past year or so I’ve been able to stop that habit.
I pick my fingers…so does Izzy…it’s an awful habit.
She also runs into things…but that’s not a habit. We’re just klutzy!
I am terrified that my daughter will pick up on my nail biting, too. I’m even more afraid that she’ll become a caffeine addict later on in life as well!
I’m a nail biter, my parents were not and neither are either of my kids. There’s hope.
Oh, I do understand…about once a month I bite all of my nails off and now my daughter is picking (nice pun) up the habit.
I’m off to vote “)
For some reason this post made me all teary and weepy?! Hormones, hormones, hormones 🙂
But it was soo sweet and I loved it. It’s so true about what we pass on to them, isn’t it? Things you would never think twice about are now a front runner in our lives.
Bad habits? Um, I do the tv thing, too…sometimes having a slice of cake for breakfast…and (hopefully this will end after I have Addison!) all the crying I do now. It. is. utterly. ridiculous 🙂
PS–I really think that your baby is a girl!!
My son sometimes bites his nails, too. So does his dad. I sometimes say words I shouldn’t say in front of my children, and my older son will pick up on it and tell me to stop saying that word because it’s bad. I have also heard him say that bad word, so that made me feel terrible. Um, wow. Now you have gotten me worried thinking about other bad habits my children might pick up from me!
Count me in as a nail biter! But guess what, my girls do not bite their nails. Don’t ask me how that happened. The girls will actually knock me if they catch me picking my nails.
But I say that if nail biting is his only bad habit then you have done good as a mom.
Nathan’s a nail biter too!
I was a nail biter as a kid but don’t do it now. I do, however, chew my lip.
I married a nail biter but none of our four children bite their nails. We don’t think it tastes good. 🙂
I’m obsessive about germs. My boys are as deathly afraid of germs as I am. Sad but true. On the bright side, they will clean the heck out of their bathroom. That should make a wife happy one day.
I am a nail biter too and have recently noticed middle child chomping away……..now I just do it when he cant see me!!!
agh! David and Kirstyn are nail bitters! and so are my mom and my sister!!! i think it is nasty. 🙂
i have to say i agree that if that is the worst you have to deal with then PRAISE THE LORD!
I’m afraid that some days I may be passing on my temper. uh oh! maybe they will learn their daddy’s patience instead! okay, now I’m praying!!!
I am a nail biter, too. I’d even go so far as to say that I am the worlds worst nail-biter. I dont think I’ve EVER had whites on my nails. And when I put the acrylic nails on…I bite those, too. :/
I am(was) a nail biter. I quit about a year ago (go me) but not before passing it on to Phabian my eldest. I feel bad about that as i know it took me mos to 22 years to stop. I also picked it up from my mom who didnt quit till a year before her passing.
Another habit i am terrified to pass on is smoking. I have tried to quit a gazillion times but never have been able to give it up completely. It scares me to death that they may one day pick up this horrible habit. Thats when i think “Thank God he is biting his nails instead”.