A few years ago, I came across a great piece of advice…….It was something that I really needed to hear at that time. A piece of advice that came down to three magic words…..I appreciate you.

At that time I was drowning in motherhood with my three small, demanding children. It was at this same time that my husband had a long commute and he also traveled extensively for work.  This meant that I was parenting alone a lot. I was overwhelmed and if the truth be told, I was not managing all that well.

You see I was struggling the most with my son. He was born very prematurely and as a result suffered from sensory issues. For the most part he was fine, but when his “behaviors” kicked in, he became very hard to handle. Reasoning with him, arguing with him, bribing him…..nothing worked. We had a rough few years always struggling against one another.

When I realized that all I needed to do was to make him feel appreciated, it actually changed our pattern of behavior completely. His AND mine! Even though sometimes his behavior was atrocious, there was always something I could be positive about towards him. Believe me when I tell you that this was not always easy and sometimes I had to reach very deeply to find something good to say. As soon as I would point out to him that I appreciated the way he had helped me or had completed a task, his face would brighten, his sweet smile would appear and he would be happy that something he did had made me happy.

The words…”I appreciate you” have a lot of power. When people feel appreciated then they feel good about themselves. It makes people happy to make other people happy.

This is the beauty is feeling appreciated…….everyone wants to feel that way. Everyone wants to be noticed and thought of in a good way. A person who feels appreciated will always do more than is expected of them. 

Fast forward 9 years and that naughty little boy is now a 15 year old young man who still acts up from time to time, but he still feels appreciated by his mother, because I still tell him regularly.

♥ Criona