Occasionally, in church I like to pass around to each family member a piece of paper titled, "All About (Name): (Name) Is..."

And then let each family member add whatever kind observation about that person.

The benefits are simple and important: The writer is able to reflect on the good qualities of that person and the recipient gets to feel great and appreciated. It's a quick, simple, yet meaningful, way to feel connected and to further solidify the family bond and loyalty to one another. It's also interesting and fun to find out what each other notices about each other.

So today, I did one on myself as dad and one for the kids mom. Here's what we learned about each other from our kids.

"Hey Kids: Your Dad Is..."

From my daughter (14): "something, funny, goofy, dorky, 'smrat', Jonathin/Jonafat, creative."
From my son (16): "interesting, a good drawer, cool, a good sword fighter, good at helping with problems."
From my daughter (11): "strange, funny, smart, creative and helpful."
From my son (9): "smart, funny, weird, awesome."

"All About Mom: Mom Is..."

16: "good food and laundry--he he--just kidding but really too, loving, caring, funny, a good dancer, can make my friends laugh."
14: "she's prettyyyyyy :), silly , a good cook, good at shopping, distracted a lot, goofy, loving"
11: "funny, nice, pretty, loving, dog loving, sweet, good cook."
9: "she calls dad 'Pootie', she's pretty, funny, likes 'bunnies', best food ever!"

I don't know anyone who tires of hearing nice things said about them. You just can't over-appreciate someone, folks.

Give it a try and share how it goes for ya.

— For more tips, strategies and resources for creating truly GREAT relationships with self and others visit http://JonathanSherman.net —

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