Notice the Good

This post is part of a series of 31 Day to Cultivating Heart Connections with Your Child as part of the 31 Days of Five Minute Free Writes Challenge.

We as mothers see the areas our children are weak in.

We see the behaviors that need corrected and the attitudes that need adjusted.

We are quick to step in and tell them what they have done wrong.

But…

Do we notice the good?

Are we taking time to see when a big sister helps her little brother get a glass of water?

Are we noticing when our little one helps clean up a mess?

Do we even see the times when our children are kind to one another?

If we are going to be serious about cultivating heart connections with our children, we must notice and affirm the good they are doing.

We cannot just be the ones telling them what they have done wrong or what they need to improve. We must be the one saying, “I see the good in you.”

According to *research, 5.6 positive comments are needed per 1 negative comment for optimum productivity. This research studying adult interactions in a work environment, but we can surmise children also need far more positive comments than negative ones to be and do their best.

From my own experience, it is difficult to have a deep heart connection with someone who only points out my flaws without acknowledging what I do well.

As mothers, let’s make a practice of noticing what our children do well and let know that we notice.

Noticing the good our children do and what they do well helps cultivate heart connections with them.

*https://hbr.org/2013/03/the-ideal-praise-to-criticism and

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0002764203260208