What they’re doing is part of a growing parenting trend known as “positive gossip”—speaking praise about your child as if they’re not listening, even though they definitely are.
“All of my friends who have kids are in hell,” she said. “I don’t know anyone who’s happy and has children at this age... anyone who has light in their eyes.”
Creator Vanessa McNeal shared a video of a conversation between a mother and her young son that, frankly, deserves its own Oscar for emotional gut-punch.
“My husband and I did everything we could to celebrate her new 'do... and continued to tell her how special she was, no matter the length of her hair and that being different is cool.”
“I know that it's just a season. I know that next summer is gonna look different. I'm gonna have a one-year-old running around that will be able to do a lot more.”
“I realized how important those tangible affirmations are to him. So I’ve made it a point over the last 15+ years to write things down in addition to telling him.”