Father Learns to Praise His Child Again

A father in Vietnam is rethinking his approach to praising his daughter after she shared her top-of-the-class academic results. He admits he has been stingy with compliments, a habit he attributes to his own upbringing in a large, farming family where academic success was expected and rarely lauded.

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Dad, my year-end grade is number one in the 6th grade.

His parents, who worked hard to ensure their five children could attend school, never offered praise even when their children excelled. This tradition, coupled with a modern skepticism about uniformly high grades, has made him hesitant to offer praise. He even opposed his wife sharing their daughter's excellent report card with extended family.

He recalls praising his daughter for early milestones like her first swim or martial arts achievements, which were skill-based. However, academic successes, like scoring a perfect 10, have gone largely unpraised. This has led to a noticeable lack of enthusiasm from his daughter when discussing her grades.

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It seems I have rarely praised my child for a long time.

Recognizing his daughter's hard work, including late nights writing essays or solving difficult math problems, he feels his lack of praise has been unfair. This summer, he plans to change, aiming to praise her efforts and achievements, not just the scores. He believes genuine recognition, rather than just titles, will boost her confidence and reinforce their bond.

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Academic achievement also needs to be praised, the important thing is to recognize the child's efforts in the process of achieving excellent results, not just because of the scores.