It is a fact no one will deny, yet sometimes we fall into the trap of letting our children watch trash, and let them pick up unhealthy habits. I am guilty too.

We were at my parents’ place last Sunday for our weekly family dinner. My sister’s family was there too, and we were all either eating desserts, talking or watching a Taiwanese drama serial.

Then there was an interesting part of the serial where the wife of a character was brought to a flat where she caught her husband red-handed with a mistress. An argument ensued with the usual climax ending with the wife giving the mistress a tight slap.

No prize for guessing it right. My son immediately came over to me and gave me a slap and said,”I slap you like in the show!”

The Power of TV illustrated. Children Learn What They See & Hear.

(this is wrriten by my wife)

One morning I asked my son if he would like to have cocoa-crunch or cocoa-pop for breakfast (not that there’s much difference since both are cornflakes coated with cocoa). He indicated that he would like to have “cocoa-pop”. “OK” I said and proceeded to open the pack.

“I DIDN”T SAY THAT!” he shot back, obviously changing his mind.

I was caught by surprise. Barely 3-years old and he has learnt to deny?

He must have learnt this from school I thought. And in my mind I started blaming the school for all these bad habits that I see in my son.

But wait a minute.. the phase “I didn’t say that” sounds so familiar.. where did I hear it from..

And it suddenly dawned on me that this is a phrase that I often use when I have disputes with our domestic helper. You see, many times when our domestic helper does something that I had not asked her to do, she would insist that I had told her so. Then, I would retort by saying “I DIDN’T SAY THAT!” .

My little son must have witnessed the disputes and picked that phrase from me.

This is indeed a reminder to me to be mindful of my ways because I have a "little sponge" beside me who picks up all my ways, be they good or bad.