Kids can detect a false compliment at 200 yards.
If they are like my kids, they hate it.
Here’s a tip. Not everything needs praise. Sometimes it’s good enough for a kid (or for anyone) to do something or accomplish something on their own without anyone remarking on it at all.
Also, no one excels at everything. Telling a kid that everything they do is AMAZING will have one of two possible results; they will either believe you and have a distorted view of their own abilities, or they will come to believe that you are lying to make them feel better because everything they do is crap.
Before you give a compliment, make sure it is genuine. Don’t gush on and on if a simple “nice job” will do.
One sincere statement will win out over hundreds of false compliments every time.
The compulsion to tell your children how wonderful, beautiful and exceptional they are must be a disease that has been “caught” by almost every parent of about 50 and under. Almost. Our age group did not parent that way.
When they are working hard on a project or artistic creation, my kids prefer some sincere questions about their work to over-generalized compliments. “There’s a lot of blue over here; could you tell me about it?” as opposed to “Wow! that is the most amazing painting I have ever seen!” As a bonus, I end up getting more insight into their imaginations as I listen.