Original thread is here: http://www.steptalk.org/node/193397

When the weekend was over and SD15 was on the plane back to us, DH and his mom caught up on the phone. First thing out of Mom's mouth was, "SD15name said 'thank you' every single time! and she seemed for the first time to be aware that people were spending on her and doing for her!"

My DH then told his own mom, "ChiefGrownup gets the credit for all that!"

Are there dancing balloons and fireworks I could throw in the post right here???!

Yeah, I was real, real happy to hear all that. Giving SD15 credit, that is one thing she has truly learned from me during the 2 years I've been a part of her life. I never heard her say it to anyone, not even once, when I first met her. Spent her breath on complaining that something wasn't good enough instead.

I started loudly thanking her dad every time we had lunch, movie, whatever. (I always thanked him anyway, but I started doing it LOUD.) She got more and more prompts and after about a year, she had internalized the habit and no longer needed prompting (most of the time). I did notice that and often praised it to DH that she had gotten the message and learned a new habit.

So it was AWESOME to learn she did it outside of our presence and had really grasped the concept that people don't have to something for her! And super double-good that he told his own mom that the credit went to me!

One small step for teen, one giant leap for StepParentKind!