As soon as Erisa Mullai’s three young boys see her pull up with the groceries, they always run out to carry the bags for her. It’s just one example of a little thing they’ve learned from their dad.
“When we’re at a store, he always carries the bags out, and now they just automatically do it without being asked,” the 33-year-old mom told The Epoch Times.
Ms. Mullai is a stay-at-home mom, and her husband, Endri Laska, works in real estate. Both are from Albania but met in Las Vegas where they married 14 years ago and still live. They are proud parents of four: Tristan, 9; Emma, 8, Elon, 3 and baby Lux, 1.
They frequently share snapshots of the family’s sunny life on Instagram; when Ms. Mullai posted a clip from a recent vacation in Hawaii, tens of thousands of people viewed it. The video shows her boys adorably giving her flowers after collecting them from the ground.
Erisa says such sweet gestures started with her firstborn, Tristan.
“He would always start collecting flowers for me,” she said, “and he would open doors for me. Or he would try to pay for me with a dollar bill or whatever coins he had.”
Tristan’s younger brothers, seeing the way he and his father treated Ms. Mullai, and how happy it made her, began copying their actions. The best thing about it, she says, is that the boys all do kind things for their sister, too:
“It shows their sister how she should be treated, so it really does mean a lot to me,” said the mom.
Every day after school, when Ms. Mullai goes to pick them up, her eldest will carry his sister Emma’s backpack for her.
“He’s only one year older, and Emma is capable of doing it, but he’ll say, ‘It’s heavy, let me hold it for you,’” she said.
Even the youngest, Lux, will attempt to help out by doing the dishes and carrying his plate away when he’s finished eating. And when the family is out and about, the children will hold doors open for strangers.
“Manners are so important, and I know my kids are how they are because of what their dad does,” she said.
While it may seem as though for this couple parenting is effortless, and their kids are perfect, this isn’t reality, Ms. Mullai says.
“It’s a lot of work; it takes a lot of patience,” she said, adding that the way she deals with losing her cool at times is to take ownership and share her feelings with her children.
“I’ll say I’m sorry and admit I overreacted if I did overreact. Because sometimes, we’re parents and we’re busy and tired. And sometimes the small things can trigger us, and it’s not their fault,” she said. “That way, the kids also learn when it’s right to apologize.”
The husband and wife parent from the same page, Ms. Mullai believes a father’s role is just as important as a mother’s.
“I know there’s many kids out there with no dads, and I feel at the end of the day, sometimes that’s better than having a dad that plays a bad role,“ she said. ”Having a dad in your life is about having a dad that shows positivity and teaches you good things, but if he’s mistreating your mom, he probably shouldn’t be in your life.
“It’s sad because the kid picks up on that too, and the most important thing about parenting is to lead by example.”
After posting her Hawaii videos, Erisa got a lot of positive comments. Older moms whose kids are all grown up, remembering them doing the same cute little things; people who don’t yet have children, hoping their future little ones turn out the same—and remarks from single moms saying that although the father isn’t in their lives, they speak to their own boys about the importance of chivalry and respect.
“If the dads are not doing that, the moms can teach them too,“ Ms. Mullai said. ”One day, these little boys are going to become men. The moms can show them the importance of little things, about flowers and opening doors.”
Ms. Mullai hopes that thoughtful, caring gestures are something her boys will do in the future for someone they end up settling down with. It means the world to me.”
