Yes, they are listening
Actually, they have ears so they are listening!
During pregnancy, it is believed that babies hear the voice of their mother.. I'm not sure about hearing the voice of their father though or do they hear that too?
While being pregnant, the mother could connect with her baby by saying words and sometimes singing to her baby. I find it hard to believe how the babies hear and kick in the womb to respond, it's just so amazing to me.
Well, what I'm driving at is not about babies hearing voices from the womb. It's about kids at the imitation stage "A period of kids doing or saying what they see or hear".
I was doing some chores in my lodge when I heard a kid saying "word for word" anything his aunt says to him or to her friend. The boy's words aren't too clear yet but from imitating his aunt, he seem to do it more perfectly than when he is asked "How are you?".
Kids are watching their elders which include their parents, relatives or guardians, and friends who know more than them. They have to go through this stage to learn some things since they can't ask you to teach them like adults may do.
You want to know what's more surprising? It's the fact that some things they learn from their parents aren't manifested in the presence of the parents. They learn what they can from their parents or guardians and show off with it in the midst of their friends.
My little cousins are like that, they watch how their mom and aunts do stuffs in the house then do the exact thing when their friends come around to play. I was shocked when one of my little cousin told her friend to learn to say thank you whenever she's given a gift. She learnt that from her dad, he takes his gifts back if they don't thank him π
So Parents! Your kids are listening and they are watching whatever you do.
With that in mind, parents have to be very conscious of whatever they say in their kids presence and also what they do. My neighbor's kid kept repeating all the words she was saying including the bad words and she didn't care to stop him from saying them even though she made him say them.
Kids learn very fast than we can imagine, and we do know that "Bad habits are easy to learn and master" so as parents, we should be conscious of making our kids grow the right habits.
Guide them properly by teaching them on your free time, say nice words to them, show them love by playing with them and scold them when they utter bad words or act wrongly.
While you discipline yourself to show the right attitude to your kids, be sure to discipline your kids when they go wrong... Pampering them into saying those bad words will only make you regret later, start now and instill the right attitude in them as they imitate to grow up.
Thanks for reading!!!