Remembering to praise well

I have an amazing team that I manage at work, and I often tell them that the point of praise is not to make them feel good about themselves. Rather, the point of praise is to give them positive feedback on the behaviors I want them to continue or repeat in the future. If it also makes them feel good in the moment, then that is a bonus.

But when it comes to my son, I have found that I am not such a stickler about praise. Often, I praise him when I shouldn't, and I often forget to praise him when he has earned it.

This is clearly something that I need to work on, as there are studies that confirm that praise - when done correctly - really makes a difference to kids.

When my son was little, I tried to follow the advice to praise him specifically. To tell him that I liked the way he got up on his bike again after a fall, rather than a blanket "good job!" But as my son has gotten older and has so many skills under his belt (many of which he learned at school and I was unaware of), I find that I sometimes can't tell when he is doing something that is outside of his comfort zone. Maybe, I need to watch him closer.

For example, this past weekend, my husband and I  pitched in to help him with a big project. We took on the jobs that involved box cutters, but let our son handle the rest of the work. The end result was definitely praise worthy, even if I forgot to dole out the praise during the process of the build.

Praise is tricky - too much can seem fake. And I think it is hard for any parent to gauge the right balance of genuine praise for their child.

Do you have any tricks to dole out genuine praise in your household? Please share them in the comments.