A Little Too Perfect?!

It's scary as a parent when you notice you and your spouses' character traits good or bad, your little quirks, the way you may say certain things, or even gestures make appearances through your children.  I am a firm believer that children will copy and judge us not by what we say but by how we act and the tone of voice we actually say things in. . .it's hard to control all of my own little idiosyncracies in the hopes that I won't gift those annoying habits to my girls but they do tend to pop up every once in awhile.  While both my children are amazingly wonderful they are like complete opposites when it comes to organization and cleanliness.  I can give them both a PB&J sandwhich and it's my 7 year old who has peanut butter on her cheek and elbow and little jelly spills on her shirt,  she will often come home from school with something stuck in her hair or a stain on her shirt and cannot even fathom how it happened :),  while my 3 year old is carefully wiping her mouth with a napkin and brushing all the crumbs into her little hand to take to the garbage.  Avonleah is scared silly of the vacuum and Adelaide begs to help me vacuum.  Avonleah is content to just get all her clothes in a drawer, never mind if it's the right drawer as long as they are in there and Adelaide starts crying if something accidently comes unfolded on the trip from the laundry basket to the drawer. The best is the way they clean the bathroom counter. . .Avonleah is done is 10 seconds flat, she throws everything that may be out of place into a drawer or under the sink and then furiously sweeps a cloth over the counter, smearing leftover toothpaste from one end to the other.  In her defense if I spend a minute guiding her she will do it properly but it just take "soooo long" and she's got things to do, books to read, imagined businesses to write plans for!  Adelaide on the other hand wants to put everything back in it's "right spot" and wants the cleaner that makes the counter and sink handles "shiny."  I love both of their personalities and styles because it teaches me different things as a parent, I learn patience and acceptance with Avonleah, and I learn how to stand back and see things from her point of view instead of always making her do things my way.  I get the experience of teaching her how to slow down and enjoy the little things and the value of working hard and doing things the right way.  She teaches me to show praise first and correction second.  She is and has always been a child who requires me to really think outside of the box.  Adelaide teaches me to see the beauty in the details, she wants to be recognized for doing a good job the first time and prides herself in being able to do most things very well.  She also teaches me to be more gently and kind, I cannot correct her the same way as I do her sister because a stern voice or a stern look will break her little heart to pieces and so I learn to be more quiet and gentle and to also wait patiently while she does things at her own speed.  With two such distinct personalities its been a challenge to make sure I notice each one for their strengths and not compare. . .I wonder what will happen with number 3! 

When I went to check on Adelaide the other day because she'd been super quiet in her bedroom for nearly an hour (not a good sign usually at my house) here's what I found. . .can we just say she organizes VERY WELL. . .each little animal is like lined up perfect and separated by kind.  She even used books and bins to make sure they stood up perfectly!  When I snapped a picture she said, "make sure you get all the books mom!"  Here's just a few of the "animal stations" she had set up!