praising children

It makes me so happy when I read through parenting books or articles and come across bits about how important it is to praise a child. I try to always give my daughter praise for every little thing she gets right. It has proven to be a very effective way to manage her behavior. As all these articles and books have promised, she seeks it out now. When she does something I've told her to do, she even claps for herself, sometimes before I do. It has made me so proud to see her pick her toys up and look at me expectantly, or stop cold when I tell her "no" and wait for her "good girl". What satisfies my parenting ego all the more though, is to see her begin to praise other people for their good behavior. A few days ago, I was babysitting a two year old. He is in that stage where he enjoys doing things for himself. Olivia saw him put a toy in the toy box when he was finished with it, and she started clapping!
I think it is very easy to focus on the things we don't want our kids to do, and how to stop them, or on the big stepping stones, like potty training. But I agree wholeheartedly that it is equally, and possibly more important, to teach kids that their everyday successes don't go unnoticed