What I’m learning as a father is that parenting involves hundreds of little behavioral course corrections. Sometimes it’s something direct and forceful—don’t pound on the glass door; be careful, that pot on the stove is very hot—but usually it’s a lot of little nudges. “Try this.” “You might want to consider that instead.” “Please say please.”
So many little things that I hope are molding and shaping my daughter into a great girl and woman.
Tonight at bedtime I told her she’d been great today. She was. I mentioned a couple of examples. I was very proud.
She beamed. I think she was a little embarrassed. But I saw a spark in her eye that she knew I meant it and wasn’t just playing.
She is great. She doesn’t always act great, but that’s because she’s new at all this learning-how-to-be-human stuff. I’ve been at it for quite a while and I’m still middling at it. I need to remember that telling her she’s great when it really applies makes both of us better.
Jeff Carlson | Never Enough Coffee Creations 