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starting the day off right

before (l) - john in one of my tshirts
after (r) - cleaned up nice and looking like a big man

we have a custom in our house that when john goes to bed every night, i tell him something about his day that made me proud of him. it can run the gamut from being proud that he used his words to tell us something to being proud that he behaved so well in a store or played so nicely with a friend. but no matter how rough the day might have been, i pick something out and tell him i'm proud of him.

and i truly thought i was doing this for him - to reinforce that he's doing good things and working hard. to remind him that mommy and daddy are always proud of the good things he does.

so imagine my surprise this morning, when i walked into his room because i heard him fussing a little. i had just gotten out of the shower, and still had a towel on my head and another wrapped around me.

"good morning, my love!" i chirped cheerfully.

"good job taking a shower, mommy!" said john with equal happiness. "i proud of you!"

so i hugged him gleefully and got him a dry diaper and we headed into the bedroom to check on daddy.

as john climbed onto the bed to hug daddy, i said, "are you proud of daddy, john?"

and he said, "i proud of you, daddy."

and i said, "is daddy a good daddy?"

and john said, "no. daddy a good man. mommy a good lady. i proud of you!"

so, whoever is feeding this kid his lines, thank you. great job! i'm proud of you. that was just what a mommy and daddy needed to start the day.

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