Pretty or Nice?

When children are little, it's so easy to tell them all the time how cute they are. There has been a time or two when I've heard young kids (mine -cringe- or others) say, "I know." instead of, "Thank you." when an adult tells them they are pretty or cute or whatever. Although the response probably comes mostly from toddler age kids who don't know better, that cringe is a good reminder for me to try to praise my kids when they've talked nicely, done something nice for someone else, or shared, just as often as I compliment them on the way they look. Sometimes I'll follow up a "You're so cute!" squeeze with an, "I'm glad you're so nice, too." just to remind them that it is more important to be nice than to look cute (although of course, cute can also mean cute acting).

But tonight I blew it. Danny took Jeremy to his 8:00 basketball game, and I decided that the rest of us needed to stay home so I could get the 4 littles to bed on time. But I caved, and let them finish the movie "Up" that they were finally watching for the first time. By the time they were moseying to bed, it was an hour past their bedtime. And as I should have known it would, it turned into, "I'm hungry", "I want to watch the part I missed", "I'm scared", and I started to lose my patience a little bit. When both girls came upstairs with, "I don't have a drink downstairs", my own tiredness got the best of me. "I'm going to have to spank if you don't get in your beds right now." Mollie ran down the stairs saying, "You're pretty, Mom."

Pretty (which of course is questionable in one of Danny's shirts and no make up), but not nice. Dang it.

I'm grateful for new days. :)

Last September, I took Mollie out back for some pictures. My girls generally don't enjoy having their picture taken by me. But this time she was pretty and nice.