You’re just trying to get them to behave. You’re just trying to get them to listen to you, to stop hitting their sister, to take school seriously, to whatever. So you speak firmly, even harshly. You’re tired, you’ve had this conversation a thousand times, you’re not as kind as you could be. You’re just joking maybe, just giving your honest opinion about this or that.

But you know what you’re doing, really?

You’re putting a voice in their head. That’s how this happens.

Everything we say, every interaction we have with our kids is shaping them. How we speak to them informs how they will speak to themselves.

Via Daily Dad