birthday affirmations

Last decemember it was the birthday of our son Dondon.Traditionally we would celebrate birthdays by eating dinner in a quiet restaurant or Cora would prepare a great meal at home and have the immediate family share the meal. This was the usual thing we did until one day about 5 years ago Cora suggested that after dinner each one of us say something good about the celebrant. Since then we have included this in our birthday tradition.
Last december we had our four children, three of them married, my youngest daughter's boyfriend and our 7 year old granddaughter all sitting in a round table. We had our dinner at our small backyard. After dinner we shared affirmations about Dondon. It was great listening to all the good things about the celebrant and I am sure he enjoyed hearing it himself. During the sharing our 7 year old grand daughter Tala, whispered to her mommy that her birthday was last October and if we could also go around and say good things about her. Her mother told us what she said and we all went around again sharing good things about the little girl. She was so happy listening to all of us.This reminded me that even children at seven years old want to hear affirmations just like the rest of us. Many times it is much easier to point out the mistakes of our children because we want to correct them. So often, we forget to affirm them as well.
I look forward to the special dinner on my birthday because of these kind words by the family and i'm sure my wife and my children also look forward to their special birthdays . I know I was hungry for affirmation as a child and even now I still love to be affirmed. This tradtion we started has made all of us aware of the importance of affirmation in a family.