When you're busy trying to raise a toddler, it can be hard to know how much of an effect your words have on them. Sure, some toddlers' ears seem to perk up the minute they get even the slightest hint of a swear word and will most likely repeat it at their grandparent's house. But with others... are they listening? When we tell them all the good things about who they are, do they hear us? Or are we just white noise in between "Baby Shark" listening sessions. If this adorable toddler's morning affirmations are any indication, it looks like they might be listening more than you think. And it's a pretty beautiful thing.
A 3-year-old little boy named Ayaan was recently caught on video by his mom as she walked him to school in the morning, according to TIME. It looked to be a pretty regular day for the little boy; carrying his banana like it was his best friend in the world, happily chattering away in his baseball cap and backpack. Pretty regular, one might think, until you pay attention to the words he is repeating over and over to himself. With increasing joy, I might add.
"I am smart. I am blessed. I can do anything," he says. I hope you set aside some time today to feel warm and hopeful about the world, because this is your moment right now.
As Ayaan's mother, Instagram user @Alissa360Style, noted in the caption of the video, which she first shared on Oct. 1 and now has over 82,000 views, this is a tradition she started a year earlier. "I taught Ayaan this positive affirmation on his 2nd Birthday last year. In hopes that he would one day memorize it, understand it and use it as a motivational tool whenever he needed it," she wrote. "Well he shocked me this morning. Out of no where he started repeating it, so I pulled out my phone. He ended (with enthusiasm lol) once we made it to our destination. So proud of the little boy he is growing into."
She's not the only one who is proud of Ayaan for remembering his morning affirmation but also clearly really believing it as well. Her video has been shared hundreds of thousands of times online and was even noticed by Ellen DeGeneres, who shared it with her more than 77 million followers on Instagram.
There is just something about a little boy taking in all of the good feeling and positive energy his mother has been pouring into him and carrying it with him every day that has gotten people pretty emotional.
Child psychologists have long espoused the benefits of raising your kids with positive affirmations, according to Positive Psychology. When you teach your kids to think well of themselves, it gives them confidence, helps them to see their own value in the world, and offers them hope. That they can do anything. That they are smart. That they are blessed.
Little Ayaan's video could not have come at a better time. The world can seem like a dark and difficult place right now. And sometimes all it takes is a toddler with his banana reminding himself of all that is good and right.
