Thank you.

Yesterday I was making myself some tacos before I headed off to work.  It was a simple meal to prepare. All I was doing was warming up leftover black beans and corn shells, cutting up a few avocado slices, and using leftover Caputo's salsas.  My dad came into the kitchen, saw me preparing dinner, and said "thanks for taking care of your dinner."  I think that my parents often forget that for the majority of the year (when I am at school) I prepare my own meals every single day.  I forget exactly what I was talking about with my mom, but I said something encouraging to her.  "you're right!" she exclaimed.  "Thank you for the advise.  Thank you for being you." (I can't remember her exact wording, but you get the jist). It was an interesting compliment, but still very nice to receive.  

 I love when my parents thank me and show appreciation for things that, in reality, don't really require acknowledgment or praise.  When people have a special skill or  talent that sets them apart for the rest, it is easy to compliment them.  If you are artistic, it shouldn't be much of a challenge to obtain compliments on your art, especially by those who are not artistic.  If you are a fast runner, which the times and places will clearly indicate, it is very likely that people will want to congratulate you and acknowledge such accomplishments.  These types of "skill" compliments are great, but they really aren't based on YOU or your personality.  

Isn't it sad that giving someone a compliment such as "I love your hair!" or "That is such a pretty shirt." is frequent and normal sounding but compliments such as "You are a really generous and caring person" or "Thanks for taking the extra time to do ____ for me/us/them etc." are infrequent and sound somewhat awkward?

Uhg now that I am talking about compliments I am thinking about the 10 page paper that I had to right for my ESL class about the compliment study that we conducted. It was terrible. I am also thinking about how, in that same semester, I took Grammar and we learned about adjectival complements (with an "e" instead of an "i").  Now I am not sure which type is spelled with an "i" and which one with an "e." Ohh the struggle...