* * *

It was seven minutes past seven. The last youngster had reached the breakfast table looking reasonably ready to start the day. The last half-hour or so had been (as it was most days) one of the tough periods for the Child and Youth Care workers: the "bright and early session", not only shepherding the kids through waking, dressing and preparing for their day, but also getting their assigned chores done. (The youth took turns to do things like picking up papers in the yard, helping with breakfast, emptying the household trash bins.) The early mornings are often knife-edge times when youngsters and staff can easily lose their cool, and the adults must all be at their most diplomatic and patient. Today things had gone, as the staff called it, "averagely".

Before breakfast was over, Alan Myers, senior worker on duty, stood up from the table and held his coffee mug aloft, looking for all the world as though he were about to propose a toast. Which is exactly what he was doing:

"I just want to say thanks for what you all did in the house this morning. I think it looks grand – like a four-star outfit. Well, maybe three-and-a-half!" A dry laugh – as good as it gets at that time of the day. "Today started fine. Enjoy the rest of it. Keep in touch."

* * *

Alan and his team had done good work before breakfast, and so had the kids, no matter how "averagely". Instead of leaving it there, he added value to the exercise with the small touch of remarking on this and thanking everyone. There was a bonus in this small ritual – nothing fancy, simply a casual minute over coffee when everyone was present anyway.

We adults don’t have to wait for youth to do something wrong before we "get in their face" – we can also try sometimes, as someone put it, to catch them doing good! How sensible to "debrief" after a success, not only after a disaster. We can achieve much by adding the small extra percentage.

Cheap at the price.