InherJourney. Even when BB and I are in the blaws, I try to look for some real thing to compliment her. If she maked good ice tea I compliment her for doing the work. If I see her taking extra effort with some beauty product I have no interest in, I say something about her really doing a through job.
It's difficult to start making compliments but the more compliments you give for "real" things, you see more places to compliment someone and it gets easier and more real to you. And, yes, sometime it does seem childish but you don't do it the same way you do it with kids.
To me it is not much different than working with employees, dogs or handicapped people. Positive reinforcement is better than negative reinforcement.
After a couple of months giving compliments for "real" things, maybe you will get some compliments back and hopefully see improvements in your R.
