Even Imperial Stormtroopers Need to Eat!

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."  Or so they say.  More often than not, though, imitation is simply aggravating.  When was the last time you actually enjoyed someone repeating everything you say, trying to act like a celebrity, or singing a song at karaoke obscenely beyond his or her vocal range?  (To be fair, I'm definitely guilty of this last one.  Sorry to all of you who have had to sit through my renditions of Ah-ha's "Take On Me.")  In short, adults who tend to imitate tend to annoy.

But it's an entirely different story when it comes to children, particularly infants and preschoolers.  For them, imitation is not flattery, it is perhaps their most effective learning strategy for making sense of and navigating this strange world we live in.  Through imitation children begin to learn how to use, and eventually gain, their own voices.  A child's innate ability and desire to imitate does, however, put a great deal of responsibility on parents.  Infants and preschoolers are veritable swiffer sweepers when it comes to parental behavior: they'll pick up anything.  The challenge lies in that, unlike a swiffer sweeper, we can't simply toss them out if they pick up too much crap.

Mimi's been copying us more and more each week.  Her verbal repetition, in terms of both accuracy and frequency, has increased substantially over the past week.  Earlier today I was deliberately annoying my wife (how quickly we, as parents, forget that our actions are being watched).  Sumie jokingly yelled at me to "Stop it!" and Mimi, who had been observing us from a few feet away, immediately piped up with "Stahput!  Stahput!"  Though she didn't know it, she's said her first sentence!

Mimi's also taken to play acting actions we've modeled for her.  One of these is the routine of cuddling a stuffed animal in the crook of her neck and then giving it a kiss on the nose.  Another is play eating.  She's started taking a few bites on her own with a spoon each time we feed her.  This practice has been limited so far - there's only so much yogurt that the ceiling can take - but Mimi has taken to it and applied it to her play.  She'll often pick up a cup and spoon, particularly when Mama and Papa are having soup or cereal, and play eat.  Today, however, she extended this to an inanimate object.  As she rightfully concluded, even imperial stormtroopers need a snack from time to time!

Mimi is also quick to prefer whatever her parents are enjoying.  I sometimes think that if I sat on the floor and played with plastic bottles, balls, and stuffed animals more often, Mimi would be less interested in attacking my computer, phone, Kindle, sandwich, shoes, etc.  Even Mimi's taste in food seems to gravitate toward our own.  We went for a picnic today and she scavenged from our sandwiches.  She also expressed some interest in our potato chips.  This wasn't abnormal, but the chips we had today were, as far as I know, not a typical kid favorite: salt and vinegar.  No matter.  She attacked them with abandon.  Here's Mimi sharing a chip with Sumie.  I think I know where Mimi picked up her potato chip habit.

Of course, not everything a toddler does is a result of imitation.  Over the past few weeks Mimi has developed a new skill I sincerely hope she didn't pick up from me or Sumie. 

She hasn't had much practice, but she can already go far deeper than either her mother or father.  She's almost up to the second knuckle!  I guess we're all born with a few "gifts." 

Shortly after her exploration, however, I think Mimi felt some regret.  Do certain innate talents come paired with an unshakeable sense of shame?

It's OK, Mimi.  Though we never admit it, we all do it from time to time! 

Steve