Page 23 - Perfect Parents, Perfect Children, and Other Fairy Tales

Have you mentioned how your little girl wanted to
take some cookies to a neighbor, so she asked you

to help her make them and how yummy those
cookies were?

Did you take an opportunity to let their aunt or
uncle know how your son reacted graciously when
he was given a smaller part than he wanted in the

school play?

My teenage daughter made a large batch of salsa

this fall, big enough for us to be able to can about
two dozen pints. It turned out very well, and we let

her know that she had done a great job.

But then we went one step further. We told

Grandma that Sunday that our daughter had done
that and how great it tasted. We also told others as
the opportunity arose. Only then did she know,

perhaps, how proud we were of what she had done.

There seems to be an extra layer of awesomeness

attached when we take the time to tell others about
something great our children have done.

Those young college students didn’t have that
experience with music, sadly. Perhaps someone did

praise them for singing at some point, but all they
can remember is the negative experience. I suspect
that if someone had been so kind as to find

something to praise them for with regard to music,
they would have been more likely to try harder to

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