When you have chosen to record a sporting event on your DVR, it would be rather confusing when playing it back to find instead of the sporting event, the program playing is a cooking show. You wonder where the programming glitch occurred because obviously something else was allowed to record in its place. The recorder had no choice but to imprint that which was chosen. It is no different with our children.  Children are human recorders and what is allowed to be downloaded into their memory banks will inevitably be played back at some time in their lives.  Their minds do not filter words, experiences, lyrics, pictures, movies or programs because the content would not benefit them or be considered destructive.  On the contrary, a recorder, or our children’s minds, only accept and record that which has been put in front of them.

Many of us have looked at our child’s behavior or listened to a statement that has come out of their mouths and wondered “where did that come from?”  If we are able to consider and remember what our child has watched, read, looked at or heard, there should be no question as to where the programming began. Learning to direct the input into our children’s lives will most certainly affect the output.
If you find you are repeatedly trying to change what is coming out of your child’s life, whether it is by words, attitude, actions or motive, simply consider the programming.  It is worth taking a long hard look at our children’s daily input. What programs, movies, books, or other sources of influence are allowed into our children’s lives will ultimately “play back” at some point in the future.

Whereas,   I am not writing from a clinical background and I recognize this is a simplification of a complex system of the human mind, any mom can attest to influences that directly affect our child’s behavior. For example, when my seven year old son reads a book about Indians, it is no surprise to me when later that afternoon, he is walking around in moccasins and building a tepee in our living room. On days when we study space and the universe, it is not shocking when he chooses later that day to dress as a NASA astronaut, repeatedly asking questions about traveling in the space shuttle.  The information that was put before my son eventually plays itself out.  Regardless of age, we naturally act out or attract in our lives that which we meditate on. If as an adult we choose to feed on a steady diet of soap operas then it should not be surprising when the amount of “drama” in our own lives starts to escalate.  Whatever we meditate on gives us our perspective on life and will ultimately come into play on a daily basis.

As a mom, I want only the best programming for my children and I recognize many times I am the person who decides whether or not to push play or delete. Take the time to look at the sources of influence in your child’s life. While you are at it, it is not a bad idea to check your own personal programming as well…after all “as a man thinks, so is he”.
 

 Articles Provided by Women of Influence. The views expressed are not necessarily the views of Entercom, or Women of Influence.