Praise Your Kids... OUT LOUD!

As I was washing off the counter yesterday for lunch, I was struck by what a great job Jenny did cleaning up her PlayDoh - without me having asked to even do it!

Then the thought struck me: "I should tell her how proud of her I am."

How many times do I see her do something good and think to myself what a great job she did, and yet never say anything to her about it?  On the other hand, how quick am I to let her know exactly what I think when she does something I don't like?

I know in my head that I should praise her way more often than I correct her, but I realized yesterday that the praise tends to stay in my head (or is only shared with other adults).  I needed the reminder that she needed to hear the praise.

You should have seen the smile on her face when I called out to her in praise!