We at Chicago Parent would like to take this opportunity to say how wonderful we think our readers are. You are clearly intelligent, sensitive, beautiful, and have a great sense of humor.
And did we mention that you’re the best parents in the world?
Yes, folks, it’s National Compliment Day, an unofficial national holiday, dreamt up by the ever-imaginative and beautiful New Hampshire natives Kathy Chamberlin and Debby Hoffman back in 1998. At least that’s what Google says, and Google is the most comprehensive news source in the world. It has clearly made our universe a better place.
OK, I’m being a bit disingenuous with that last comment, which is exactly the opposite of the point for Compliment Day. Chamberlin and Hoffman ask that people give sincere compliments, not ones that seem forced or ironic.
Take a moment in your harried morning or post-work routine to look at your children and tell them how wonderful they really are. If you feel so inclined, today might be a good day to tell your spouse the same thing. (No pressure.)
Today is also a great day to tell someone you think highly of that…you think highly of them. So many times we go through life not letting people know how cool we think they are, and then realize later that they don’t think they’re cool at all. I guarantee that there are more people out there than you think who feel that you’re really funny or smart or a great mom or dad. Imagine how good you would feel if they actually shared their thoughts with you?
And, I’m being perfectly sincere.
There are some sticky possible situations for this day. How, for instance, do you compliment your boss? Even if you mean it, it might not come across that way.
And how do you compliment people you simply don’t like? Or worse, people who don’t like you? For this, the voice of my grandmother rings in my ears, “There are always good things about everybody. You just have to look for them.” My grandmother had Alzheimer’s by the time she was 60, but I choose to think that her advice was lucid when given. She was a kind, loving woman.
And that’s probably the best compliment I can give.
By the way, if you’re in a sour mood today, you have another chance on March 1, which is World Compliment Day. Vous est tres belle!
