I’ve spent the weekend with my nephew.  He’s 20 months old and the most wonderful child I know; yes I’m biased, but he is!  He’s at the age where he’s learning so many new things every day and, as I don’t see him often enough, I miss too many of them.

This weekend he was showing off his basketball skills.  He’s got a net that’s about 4 foot high and he’s got a mini basketball that he tries to score a basket with.  Every time he manages it, and sometimes when he doesn’t, he expects applause!  The look on his face is priceless; he’s so proud of himself, a little confused at how he actually managed to do it and beaming because he’s getting a huge clap from everyone in the room!

At that age we’re so eager to see every little thing that they learn and praise them for everything, but as they get older we’re not so good at heaping on the praise.  I think it’s just as important no matter how old you are to get praise for things that you’ve done well.  So next time a good meal appears in front of you or someone does anything worthy of a bit of praise, give them a standing ovation, they might look at you as though you’re going slightly mad, but they’ll probably enjoy it and it’ll certainly put a smile on their face!  Go on, spread a little happiness!