Newton's first law of motion--every action has an equal and opposite reaction. I think Newton's first law of motion is wrong as it relates to parenting. Almost every night the kids are excited about something they want to tell me or show me and I have a tendency to half-heartedly respond, "That's nice. Now run along." Whether I do that because I'm tired or just used to nightly "show and tell," I noticed something different last night, a scientific breakthrough, if you will.
My son had been practicing his numbers on a piece of paper and my daughter was sporting new shoes, and both of them were dying to show me. The reality is that the numbers were pretty similar to other scribbles he's shown me before and girl shoes just aren't exciting to dads. But their big eyes told me that if I couldn't find some way to show genuine excitement, they would never be happy again.
It really only took a second of undivided attention and effort to find something in what they showed me to be excited about and to express it. Several of the scribbles really looked like numbers--he was making genuine strides--and it was amazing that he would even choose to practice them on his own. My daughter also looked very cute in her new shoes, they were very sparkley.
When they saw my genuine excitement, they lit up with pride in themselves. In fact, they were so content that they went right to bed that night without any hassle--like perfect angels.
My scientific conclusion, therefore, is that a genuine reaction can produce positive action. Sorry Newton, you got it backwards.
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