laying it on thick

i'm making lunch this afternoon and elias is shouts from the toy room:
"mom, it's so great of you that you're making such a nice lunch! thanks, mom!" (note: i'm making annie's mac n cheese and nuggets. not exactly gourmet, but...)

and then he adds:
"you look beautiful today, mom. absolutely beautiful!"

enter: a running piper, pointing up at me, yelling (because piper, aptly named, mostly yells...everything):
"you a beu-eee, mum! a beu-ee!" (yes. she's calling me...a beauty.)

as we sit down for lunch, my kids actually won't stop telling me that i'm a beauty, and that i look beautiful today. must be the sweatpants and no makeup? i found myself trying to change the topic because the flattery from my nearly 4 and sorta almost 2 year old was, uhhh, overwhelming. and sweet and adorable, of course.

now, you may be wondering where my children got these complimetary notions.
do i vainly teach them to shower me with praise?
have they been watching leave it to beaver?
do i brainwash them as some part of the dharma initiative?

funny thing is? it wasn't me. not at all. i have my husband to thank for teaching our kids to always say thank you to whoever prepared the meal (Lord knows it's not always me; dave cooks a lot), and to tell me that i'm beautiful, which they learned from his example and from him encouraging them to tell me "how pretty" i look every day.

kinda nice for a pregnant lady in sweatpants to have her own personal confidence-boosting team. who cares if they don't really understand it?!
so husbands- teach your children to love and respect mom, but don't forget to teach them to shower her with praise and gratitude, too. it should be like mother's day EVERY day. moms need it wherever they can get it. and teach them lay it on THICK. like it's supposed to be.

that's what I'M talking about.