Small children are blessed with unabashed pride in their own accomplishments and attributes.
"You are very beautiful," I told Kyla the other day.
"I know," she replied.
Somewhere along the journey to adulthood, however, most women stop taking compliments as undeniable truths about ourselves and instead, start viewing them as cruel jokes. This is proven by the fact that if you ever tell a young mother that she looks pretty or, heaven forbid, sexy, she will first laugh at you, and then insult your intelligence.
"You don't know what you are talking about," she will bark as she pinches a layer of fat around her middle.
I worry sometimes that I am so focused on teaching my kids how to be better people that I forget that I have much to learn from them on the subject in return. Specifically, I fear that if I do not start following my children's example, then they will follow mine.
The next time that someone pays you a compliment, join me in resisting the urge to stomp on it. Instead, smile and simply say "thank you."
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