pint sized compliments

Since I last posted, Brady has potty trained. So has Carter. It's a thing of beauty.

Kidding. It has been a long, long time though, hasn't it?

Today a typical Steelboy thing happened. We were out and about, driving in the car (it had been a good 30 seconds since we left our house), when Brady got mad at Carter, and hit him. I didn't see it happen, but I heard something, not to mention the outcry that ensued, so I shouted said in a soft tone, "What happened?" Brady answered "I hit 'im!" Honesty is my favorite.

So, naturally, moms should punish hitters. It came to me only after a few seconds, "Brady! Now right now I want you to tell Carter 10 reasons that you love 'im! Now. Get started. Go. Now."

"He plays with me. He wrestles with me."

"Tell him he's got beautiful blue eyes!" I might have said.

"He has beautiful blue eyes. He's nice."

I suspect a few were duplicates.

Afterward, Carter just beamed! In the rear view mirror I asked him, "Carter, did you love that - hearing all those nice things about YOU?" His face said yes.

Brady's feelings now hurt that he "never has people say nice things about him" motivated me to invite Thing 1 and Thing 3 to pay him the same respects. It got started with Jackson's "He's nice. He plays with me." They are so creative with their compliments, those Steelboys. "He looks so cool in his black and white clothes!" I might have said.

With only about 2 more minutes of the car ride left till we reached out destination, I suggested that it was time to shower Jackson with compliments. In unison, the other two offer "He's good at basketball." "He's got the best smile!" I might have said. We went on and on with a few more personalized comments about Jackson, and when needing only one more nice sentence, the most sincere little Carter-man spoke up with my favorite line of the day: "When I ask him to play hero factory with me, and he says no, he says it in a nice voice." 5-year old honesty. Top that!

A couple hours later. Sweet boys. Ish.