A Lesson from my Three and a Half Year Old

As I was tucking my three-and-a-half-year-old daughter into bed, she asks “Mommy, what was your favourite part of the day?” I quickly reflected on our day, which had been (by my maternity leave standards) pretty swell. From getting a great parking spot at the Doctor when I took my baby for a shot, to my older daughter being well behaved and even making a great accomplishment at something she’d been working on for quite a while. I easily decided to choose her accomplishment as my favourite part of the day.

I asked, “what was yours?” expecting her to echo my response. “I loved when you jumped up and down,” she declared. The backstory: nearly a year ago I was so proud of my daughter for first peeing on the toilet, that I literally I jumped up and down. Now when my daughter achieves a goal, she either requests that I jump up and down, or sometimes I genuinely jump with glee. I recommend it, the next time you are happy literally try jumping. For me, it’s up there with snorting when you laugh as far as having an honest, though not necessarily socially acceptable, physical response.

Hearing her response made my heart swell as it was a reminder of how much she values not only her accomplishments, but also the responses to which these are met. As I move forward, I will try to remember the importance of how I respond in general and in particular with my daughter not only in her moments of greatness but also when she demonstrates behaviours which are, shall we say, less than desirable.