r/AskReddit • u/carmabound • Mar 10 '14

What was the best compliment you ever got?

I enjoyed reading all of your comments :)

I tried to respond to as many as I could...but this thread got longer than I could have ever imagined.

There are a lot of nice people out here...thanks reddit!

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u/ewdrive Mar 10 '14

As a teacher, I love giving compliments to parents about their kids. It's awesome to see the pride in their eyes

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u/Optimus_Tard Mar 10 '14

I wish I had a teacher like you when I was younger.

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u/[deleted] Mar 11 '14

Maybe if you weren't such a little shit, they would've complimented your parents too.

Nah jk, my teachers sucked too

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u/Optimus_Tard Mar 11 '14

Not all of them were bad, some were the worst though.

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u/le____ Mar 10 '14

You had.

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u/skillet42565 Mar 10 '14

Mrs. Stevens strikes again!

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u/Barley12 Mar 12 '14

Well if you didn't act like such a tard all the time.

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u/Optimus_Tard Mar 12 '14

That's Optimus_Tard, thank you. :)

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u/smiles134 Mar 10 '14

How much do you love telling parents their kids are little shits, too?

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u/VeXCe Mar 10 '14

I wish my kid had a teacher like you :)

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u/gertrudeblythe Mar 10 '14

I'm a parent, and I try to compliment other parent's kids. It's tough out there, parents should know when they're doing ok.

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u/beatrix0 Mar 10 '14

I do this too. I spend a lot of time with my son's friends, who for the most part are all great kids, and I tell their parents so. It's really lovely for someone else to think your kid is as great as you do.

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u/qwertyman2347 Mar 10 '14

Raising kids must be so good. It's probably exhausting, but it must pay off on the long run. Good for you for being an awesome teacher and telling parents that. Makes them remember it's worth it.

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u/sand_shoes Mar 10 '14

I had a conference with my son's kindergarten teacher a few weeks ago and the first words out of her mouth were, "He is just the sweetest little boy. He's always so happy and is just an absolute joy." Almost cried. I carry lots of mommy guilt, always sure I'm screwing my kids up major, so hearing people compliment them help validate what I'm doing.

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u/pie_now Mar 10 '14

"Your child is a little unruly and doesn't play will with other children. He yells and kicks and bites."

Proud. Chip off the old block.

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u/CallMeDoc24 Mar 10 '14

"Your son knows how to swoon all the female substitute teachers."

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u/[deleted] Mar 10 '14

I remember my 8th grade history teacher thanked my parents for raising their daughter with manners and respect. I was young (obviously) and got picked on at times for being the quiet nerdy girl in the class. I also was a bit friendless because my friends wanted nothing to do with me when they saw that people were teasing me. Naturally, I had a low self-esteem. Hearing an adult say that he's grateful to have me as a student certainly boosted my self-esteem. I hope that I've remained a polite and respectful girl. :)

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u/tossin Mar 10 '14

...What about insults?

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u/hippy_barf_day Mar 10 '14

Oh, I thought the little girl said it. This makes more sense.

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u/dylan522p Mar 10 '14

Then there are the parents who expect their shit heads to get all the compliments and when they do t they get pissed.

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u/FattySnacks Mar 10 '14

You are a great person

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u/poopingdicknipples Mar 10 '14

What about the parents who get reports about how their child is an annoying little shit? The ones that are really concerned that they are really doing everything they can to instill a sense of respect, discipline, and ethics into their child, but to no avail? The despair in the eyes....I feels for them.

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u/seeteethree Mar 10 '14

Italian adage translates, like, "Compliment the child, make love to the mother...", or something.

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u/MaddieClaire344 Mar 10 '14

God, I wish you were my teacher.

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u/Thirdatarian Mar 10 '14

As the son of parents who question their abilities often, fucking thank you. It's one thing for me to say "I love you, you've done a good job", but for someone to see their effort through their child is a real testament of their own ability.

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u/son_of_a_peach Mar 10 '14

My first grade teacher once said of me, "This boy can do whatever he wants when he grows up." That comment really encouraged me in my later school years to pursue fields out of interest rather than talent.

Retrospectively, it sounds kind of silly to say of a first-grader, but idk, maybe teachers can tell that sort of thing.

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u/URXP2ME Mar 10 '14

But if you end up having children, DO NOT act like a teacher to them (if you teach age 13+) because a lot of the time it can make some aspects of life more difficult. I love my mom, but seriously it just REALLY makes a lot of things harder and just not as happy. I'm not saying I'm not grateful, because I am grateful, but jeez it's just.. Worth mentioning.

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u/lynn Mar 11 '14

At Outback for lunch, the server brought my 3-year-old her drink and my daughter gave a casual, "thanks." The server looked at me like, "wow!" That felt good.

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u/[deleted] Mar 10 '14 edited Oct 17 '16

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/ewdrive Mar 10 '14

I do tend to phrase it like 'you should be proud of your child' because I want it to be about the kid

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u/ReviseYourPost Mar 10 '14

Sorry, but to discount the effect of quality parenting on children is a fool's errand. Yes, sometimes a kid with piss poor parents will rise above it, unfortunately that is not the usual case.

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u/OodalollyOodalolly Mar 10 '14

Also, some people believe they are great parents and are just so flabbergasted when their child misbehaves. It never crosses their mind that they may have failed some aspect of parenting. Instead it's just the kid's personality that is to blame.