Kennedy: Are all of our kids awesome?

Garrison Keillor is onto something. He says in Lake Wobegon, Minn., "the women are strong, all the men are good-looking and all the children are above average."

I live in a small Hamilton County community where all the children are not merely above average, they are -- in a word -- AWESOME!

If you don't believe me, ask their parents.

Matchless Matt, the little soccer player who interrupts the game to make flatulence sounds with his armpits, is AWESOME!

Perfect Patricia, the gymnastics prodigy who couldn't tumble if she were a Bounce dryer sheet, is AWESOME, too.

In our little town, we have children who are awesome at eating Popsicles, children who are awesome nappers and children who are awesome at potty.

We have so squeezed the guts out of the word "awesome" that we have to invent modifiers to recognize merit. So the kid who actually makes a goal in soccer becomes "super-awesome."

I read an article from The Orlando Sentinel recently that brought this phenomenon into focus for me. The story was about a book called "NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children."

In a recent interview with the online magazine Slate, Po Bronson, a journalist and one of the authors of "NurtureShock," explained, "Only kids about 7 and under are still taking praise at face value. ... The basic problem is that telling kids they're 'so smart' conveys the idea that intelligence is something you're born with."

Bronson says we overpraise our kids. He says raising children in a bubble of positive reinforcement can result in a bad case of overconfidence. Kids told they have natural gifts might not develop the work habits to succeed as adults.

Honestly, I've noticed this in some of today's young adults, who seem to crave affirmation and flee from conflict. (In fairness, they probably see me as stoic and grumpy.)

I'm as guilty as anyone in overpraising my kids, but I'm trying hard to dial it back.

One night this week, my 7-year-old brought me his report card. Normally I would have gushed over his A-plus in math and repeated my admiration for his gift.

Instead, I focused on his B in writing and praised his ongoing work to get better. I gave him an attaboy for a perfect homework score and chalked it up to pure effort.

That, the experts say, is the key: Praise the effort, not the gift.

After all, a child taught to be gifted at hard work is an awesome child indeed.