A story is told that a man had a puppy that he was training to do things and one of the things he was training his puppy to do was get the morning paper and bring it to the door. The first morning the puppy brought the paper to the door and the man showered the puppy with praise and gave him several treats. The next morning the man opened his front door and to his surprise he found 10 papers! The puppy was so delighted with the praise and rewards that he received the day before that he went around the neighborhood and collected other papers to bring to his master.
While our children certainly are not animals, they do love to hear us praise them. Sometimes we get so busy with everything going on in our lives that we only tell our children what to do and we never take the opportunity to praise them. But if they do something wrong, we are quick to point it out. If we aren't careful, our children will start questioning why they should do what they are told to do when we are only going to point out the bad things. What is the use? They are more than likely going to get yelled at anyway so why should they even care if they do a good job.
While we should not teach our children to expect praise or reward when they do a good job, we do need to praise them often and tell them we love them every day. When I was a child my brother and I had to stay at a preacher's house for a few days and while we were there I heard the preacher and his wife tell their children they loved them and they said it often throughout the day. Those were words that my brother and I did not hear in our family and even though I was a child, I made up my mind that when I had children they would hear the words "I love you" often... and they do.
We have no promise of tomorrow so let's make it a great day today. Tell your children that you love them and praise them when they do a good job.
Have a great day!!!
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