Birthday Tradition

I know you've all been wondering whatever happened to the birthday tradition of matching shirts! lol No I have not forgotten. In fact, Ethan choose the shirts this summer, that he actually forgot what they were.

But how could we celebrate Scott's birthday without the whole matching t-shirt tradition? Well of course we couldn't.

This year's theme is inspired by our plans to head to Disney this summer, and Ethan's newfound respect for the "evils".

Accepting Compliments

I have this wonderful friend named Hilary. She has no idea I'm writing this about her. Bur recently she taught me an important and valuable lesson.

So Hilary is funny, talented and ever-so helpful. She's Ethan's voice teacher, and while I've seen Ethan sing in shows before, I was blown away with his performance in Aladdin. And yes, I think the directors/teachers deserve credit, but so does Hilary. When you first meet her, she's there. You can't help but notice her. But she's also extremely humble.

A few months back, I saw her, and she had this awesome glittery makeup. It was so cool. She sparkled. And I let her know. She started telling me about it, but stopped. "I'm trying to accept compliments" she said. So, she said thank you, and then told me about her makeup.

I really didn't think much about it.

A couple weeks ago, she had the coolest red lipstick. It really made her pop. I rarely see her in lipstick, so a red really stood out. I told her so. She started to speak, but stopped herself. She shook her head, and said thank you. She said how it's still something she's working on, accepting compliments.

This week, I saw her at school. Her hair was shiny and gorgeous. I recently cut my hair, so think I was a little envious of her long locks. She started telling my friend and I what she's been doing. She suddenly looked at me. "Nope, thank you. Need to take the compliment!" and then she shared her secret.

Now, I'm not trying to embarrass her. But to share the lesson she taught me.

The same day I saw her at school, and admired her long hair, another friend saw me, and complimented me on my haircut. I started telling her about the style I was thinking, and what I did, and what I might do next time. When she left, it hit me. I never said thank you. I didn't accept the compliment, but instead gave the credit away.

Today my trainer sent me a message telling me how proud of me she was for my weight loss and how good I look. I texted back, "Am almost at my goal". But before I hit send, I realized I didn't accept the compliment. I didn't say thank you. So I made a point of saying thank you.

Why is it that Hilary and I have difficulty accepting compliments? I know I'm not the only one to give her one. And I know I've received them before. Is it us? Or women in general? Do we not know how to take a compliment? Do we feel the need to explain ourselves?

Thank you Hilary for teaching me a great lesson. I will make sure I accept compliments from now on. I never realized how hard that was before.