I’m reminded of three scenarios that took place a couple of months ago, when Alyanna was still three-something years old. I took them to memory but never got around to blogging about them. I shall do that now, as I know it will be a good reminder for me (and hopefully to you, too) of just how much our children long for role models.

Part one:

There was a time (even before she turned three) that Alyanna got introduced to Connie Talbot, the six-year old singer who won on the show Britain’s Got Talent (*a reader just corrected me, Connie was just runner-up, not winner hehe,my mistake). Since then, Alyanna’s love for singing grew to a whole new level. She would sing in the car, while eating, before going to bed, in her sleep….everywhere, anywhere…everytime, anytime. She was so fond of this six-year old that she would sometimes call herself Connie Talbot or Alyanna Talbot, and would always wear boots (even here at home) because she thought that the boots would make her look like Connie. Why, she didn’t even allow me to get her a haircut because “Connie Talbot has long hair“.

This was also the season when Alyanna dreaded vegetables. One time, while we were having broccoli and cauliflower for dinner, Alyanna asked me what they were and I answered her, telling her to eat them. Before that time, she would just say no to eating veggies at the sight of anything green, but when I mentioned to her what those two kinds were, her eyes lit up as she asked, “what? CONNIE-flower?? Is this Connie Talbot’s favorite??” At that instant I saw a glimmer of hope that maybe— just maybe I can use this to get her to eat the healthy green stuff. I said “yep! Connieflower! And yes, maybe they’re Connie Talbot’s favorite….oh look! we even have little connietrees!!” (I know, I was pushing it ) ….I did have victory that day.

Part two:

After the Connie Talbot season was the season of the Von Trapp family. Alyanna just LOVED the Sound of Music! So much so that we even caught her singing “Lonely Goatherd” one morning, in her sleep. During this season, she would usually ask me “Do the kids in the Sound of Music like that?” or  “Do the kids in Sound of Music do that?” whenever I’d ask her to do something.

Part three:

After Maria and the Von Trapps, came Disney. She actually has never scene a full Disney movie (to the extent of my knowledge). Most of the time we just play the parts with the singing (those scenes we thought were safe enough) or play the soundtrack to her. Even then, somehow she still got the prince-princess concept, which I have been trying to avoid. I was surprised when one day, as I was carrying her down the stairs as one would carry an overgrown baby, she asked me, “Mom, diba this is how a prince carries a princess??” And one time when Dennis asked to kiss her, she said, “Ok, you be the prince and I’m the princess, daddy!” Ayayay!! And we’ve never even shown her any of those “…and they lived happily ever after” parts yet!

Children are always on the look-out for role models. God wired them that way. However, at a young age, they do not really have enough discernment to decide which would be a good model to follow. It is OUR duty, as parents, to provide that filter for them in the meantime. More than filtering, God has given us the responsibility to be the good models for them to follow. This means that if I am to parent my children well, then I’d have to live my life well.

While driving to my sister’s birthday dinner….

(Song playing on our radio: “Do everything without complaining, do everything without arguing…so that you may become blameless and pure…children of God….”)

ALYANNA: “Mommy, Is the children God?”
ME: “the song says ‘children OF God’ alyanna…”
ALYANNA: “WHo’s the children OF God?”
ME: (quickly sees the opportunity to “engage” this two year-old)
“We are! If we ask Jesus to come into our hearts and receive him as Lord and Savior, we become children of God.”
DENNIS: (suddenly joins in the conversation, and, being a minister, quickly seizes the opportunity to bring this two yer-old to the saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.hehe)
“ALyanna, would you like to receive Jesus into your heart?”
ALYANNA: “WHat would Jesus do in my heart?”
DENNIS: “He will change you. Would you like Jesus to change your heart and change you?”
ALYANNA: (pauses, seemingly in deep thought)   “No na, I don’t want Jesus to change me– only mommy and daddy.”

-conversation ends-

…sabi na nga ba, parents, we have to be good examples noh?

Dennis and Alyanna were role playing earlier tonight, before going to bed:

DENNIS (as The Beast): *in a…beast-y voice hehe* “Why have you come to my house??”
ALYANNA (as Belle): *in a soft princess-like voice* “Because the BEANS is not here yet.” (I think she meant “Beast”)
DENNIS: “I am!! I’m the beast! you cannot stay in my house!! See your dad?? He’s locked up inside..” *points to our lazyboy* “That’s the prison cell.” ….*Dennis coaches Alyanna on their script* “Alyanna, say ‘take me instead’!”
ALYANNA: *Still in a sweet voice* “No please I don’t like…..Can you find me a house where I could stay please?” (Aba, quite refined ha…)
DENNIS: “Okay, stay here with me!!”
ALYANNA: “Oh, is this your house?”
DENNIS: *up to now, still in character* “Yes, come in!”
ALYANNA: “Oh, now I’m Ariel. Let’s magine (imagine) that I’m the princess and you’re the prince…”
DENNIS: “Okay, what happened to them? What did the princess and the prince do?”

–STOP!!! In my mind, “Oh no…why does she know these things about princesses and princes?? She’s too young to know about ‘love teams’ ah!!”

ALYANNA: *thinks long and hard* “They will…go swimming together! Come on prince!”

—WHEW! Okay, I guess she didn’t get to watch the later part when they got married…good, good… still safe.