stickers

So what is it with kids and stickers?

I get that they have fun colors....adhesive...rewards for good behavior....but really?

Jude walks out of school today with a massive "I can't wait to tell Mommy this" smile. The kind a Mom is easily able to distinguish. He gets in the car, buckles his seat belt and shows me his pudgy right hand! There IT is! A big bright yellow STICKER with a smiley face on it.

I ask him where this little happy face came from...he proceeded to explain that during circle time today...another boy wanted to sit on Jude's carpet square. While many times when a child is asked to share, they throw a fit or whine or tattle or do something else that is freakin' annoying...Jude chose to say, "Sure!" Jude's teacher took notice of that act of kindness and rewarded him publicly with that highly coveted item worth about 0.0000002 of a cent: A STICKER!

Of course I was proud of him...my son chose kindness over being a meanie. Sipping my latte on our way home, I thought about how he loved that sticker. I watched him in the rear view mirror staring at it and moving it in the perfect spot on his hand. I was immediately brought to the thought "Do I praise him enough?"

It's so easy to spot the bad stuff....yell at him for the annoying things that add up...but do I tell him how much I appreciate the hugs I get out of nowhere? The cuddles he offers freely to his brother? The cards and pictures I get drawn for me for FREE? As these questions circled my mind, I remembered the meaning of Jude's name: Praise

*Digging out my stickers now*