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My baby girl lit up when I noticed all of the thought and care she put into the anniversary card she made for us. \u00a0See how she split the heart in half? \u00a0See how she has one side with a banana tree and a coconut tree with coconuts on the ground, and “Trinidad” written vertically? Then on the other side she has… well… footballs. Cause that’s what daddy likes. \u00a0I was so proud of her… I gushed – she glowed. I pointed out each thing that I noticed about the card, and let her know how much I appreciated her effort.<\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t matter how old I get, how many achievements I have, it still does something inside of me to have my mother and father say, \u201cwell done.\u201d\u00a0 I don\u2019t know what it is about that feeling.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t even know how to describe it.\u00a0 It is a mixture of joy, surprise, relief, and elation \u2013 all blended together like a milkshake \u2013 going down easy, cool and perfect, with no brain freeze.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood job.\u201d Just two words, but they can change a person\u2019s day, their week\u2026 and sometimes, their life.\u00a0 When I started blogging about Caribbean parenting, I started to look around for other bloggers like me, and there was just one, who had long since given up after just three or four posts. Other than that, there were none, so I moved on to Caribbean bloggers in general.\u00a0 Many of the blogs I found were abandoned by their owners, no longer receiving the time and attention that they once did.\u00a0 I would go to the archives and read their work, some of it quite good.<\/p>\n
For years they posted, some diligently and consistently reporting on the issues in the Caribbean, travel, food, culture, and business, and in return they got silence.\u00a0 No comments, no likes, no tweets and retweets, no buzz.\u00a0 Just all quiet \u2013 like the sound of your house when the power goes out.\u00a0 Not turned off leaving a hum of hope, just out \u2013 no juice at all \u2013 no hope of a spark.<\/span><\/p>\n As I read, and read, I just wished that I had found them before they jumped ship.\u00a0 I wished I had found them just in time to say, \u201cgood job.\u201d<\/p>\n My parents had two different ways of rewarding a job well done.\u00a0 My mom, she would pay.\u00a0 If I got good grades, I got money.\u00a0 If I earned a medal of some sort, we had Chinese food from my favorite restaurant.\u00a0 My dad, he would just tell me, \u201cthat is beautiful, I\u2019m going to hang that up in my office.\u201d Then he would put it up, and show me where he put it.\u00a0 Even today, my work from third grade is hanging up in his house \u2013 framed.\u00a0 In a lot of homes, not just Caribbean ones, there\u2019s just not enough, \u201cgood job\u201d getting thrown around.\u00a0 I\u2019m not saying for simple tasks that must be done as a part of being in a household, like washing the dishes or cleaning their rooms.\u00a0 I am speaking of their artwork, their writing, the stories they beg to tell you.\u00a0 There\u2019s something about the validation that a child gets for sharing their creative gifts, their talents, that thing that no one can do exactly like they do it, that feels amazing.<\/p>\n We wonder where the creativity has gone in adults. \u00a0Some of us show what we can do, and don’t get paid. \u00a0Others of us submit our best creative work for approval, and are met with rejection. In other cases, that creativity saving \u201cgood job\u201d just never came.\u00a0 After years and years, from childhood to adulthood, of work gone unloved, drawings unnoticed, and stories unappreciated, creativity was abandoned.\u00a0 There were no comments, no likes, no buzz \u2013 then the lights went out.<\/p>\n I encourage you to take a moment to tell someone \u201cgood job\u201d today.\u00a0 As a matter of fact, pick one person – the cashier at the grocery store, they guy folding the shirts at your favorite department store, the waitress who takes your order, the artist who painted your child\u2019s cheek at the mall, or the blogger who is on the edge of giving up, to give them the \u201cgood job\u201d that they need to keep that light on \u2013 however dim it may have become.<\/p>\n Tell your kids EVERY day, that they have done well at something. Pick anything that they have truly excelled in. \u00a0You’ll find you won’t have to look very far.<\/p>\n If no one has told you today, I\u2019m telling you \u2013 \u201cyou\u2019ve done a good job.\u201d Stick with it. \u00a0Your creativity and willingness to share it means a lot to those around you, whether they say so or not. Don’t give up on your creative talents – someone is listening.<\/p>\n My baby girl lit up when I noticed all of the thought and care she put into the anniversary card she made for us. \u00a0See how she split the heart in half? \u00a0See how she has one side with a banana tree and a coconut tree with coconuts on the ground, and “Trinidad” written vertically? Then on the other side she has… well… footballs. Cause that’s what daddy likes. \u00a0I was so proud of her… I gushed – she glowed. I pointed out each thing that I noticed about the card, and let her know how much I appreciated her effort.<\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t matter how old I get, how many achievements I have, it still does something inside of me to have my mother and father say, \u201cwell done.\u201d\u00a0 I don\u2019t know what it is about that feeling.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t even know how to describe it.\u00a0 It is a mixture of joy, surprise, relief, and elation \u2013 all blended together like a milkshake \u2013 going down easy, cool and perfect, with no brain freeze.<\/p>\n \u201cGood job.\u201d Just two words, but they can change a person\u2019s day, their week\u2026 and sometimes, their life.\u00a0 When I started blogging about Caribbean parenting, I started to look around for other bloggers like me, and there was just one, who had long since given up after just three or four posts. Other than that, there were none, so I moved on to Caribbean bloggers in general.\u00a0 Many of the blogs I found were abandoned by their owners, no longer receiving the time and attention that they once did.\u00a0 I would go to the archives and read their work, some of it quite good.<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/socamom.com\/w\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/good_job_socamom.png\")
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