Compliments Addendum

Posted by Terry McNichols

A couple of weeks ago I had a post about compliments and how we shouldn't wait to pass them on.  A friend on Facebook recently told this story:

"Quite a few weeks ago I was wearing my daughter in my frontpack at the grocery store, and she was SCREAMING. The WHOLE STORE was staring at me - it was like looking at a fish tank when you stand there and all the fish look toward you.  Anyway, this Chinese woman with a strong accent came up and said "She gon' be a lawya. She gon' buy you a house!" It was awesome."

What a wonderfully different response this woman had to a screaming baby in a grocery store.  How many of us have given our share of dirty looks or tsk, tsks, or said the time-honored response of "She'll be grown up before you know it," or even worse, "These are the best days of your life?"  I used to hear that and cringe.  SURELY I thought things must be going to get better, or I wouldn't be able to survive. 

If we're going to be passing on the compliments, we need to give young parents everywhere the benefit of the doubt and respond like the woman in the grocery store.  What a great positive reframe!  And I know this young mother needed the encouragement, because I've been reading a lot on Facebook about this challenging (NO, potential lawyer, potential new house) baby!
(Photo by LexnGer, shared via Flickr)