Hearts of kindness pre-printed or heartfelt?

This month with Valentine’s Day, children send Valentine cards to classmates, grandparents, relatives, etc. These cards have sweet thoughts expressing  friendship, love and caring about that person, often in the form of a preprinted compliment.

Compliments are honest words of kindness that we believe to be true about someone. Even though we may have these beliefs, we so often forget to express them verbally.  Complimenting others about their talents, acts of kindness they have done or about a job well completed, is an act we need to express to our children and help them to express verbally to others.

A thought to help inspire this may be: Instead of buying Valentine’s Day cards that have preprinted compliments that they just sign, have your child create his/her own card or buy the ones that are blank inside and have them write a compliment inside. This could be to their friends, or just family and a few close friends. 

Teach your children the importance of giving honest kind words, and how they, like others, enjoy the sweet sound a compliment brings.