Don’t Praise the Kids

Arrived some hours ago from Brussels, after a very enjoyable weekend exploring neighborhoods I hadn’t gone to in years with my cousin and meeting up with my buddy Tim.

At some point the topic of child care came up, probably because of my imaginary children that you know, I’m always talking about and concerned about how I’m not raising them since they don’t exist.

But a great subject of discussion became praising, not praising, and over-praising one’s children. Though it was a theoretical discussion in our case, we each spoke a bit about how best to do it or not do it. Makes me remember alot of kids I knew that were praised for every little nothing that they did… and wonder where they are today.. did all that praise properly prepare them for life.. especially when things don’t go right even though others once told you about how great you are? I really wonder. Then again, if you were almost never praised, maybe you’re constantly unhappy with your actions; miserable in effect.

All this is the topic on a HIGHLY RECOMMENDED episode of On Point last week. Whether you have kids or not, I recommend listening. There are even some reasonable tips about what to do if AT THIS VERY MOMENT you realize you’ve been praising your kid too much… what to do now?

In closing I’d like to say to myself: “dam you did a good thing going to brussels this weekend, BUT, you should work on cleaning your room and fix your sleeping pattern.”