My sweet little 2 year old has taken to saying “daddy, watch this” before she does anything or sometimes before she will say things. She will continue to repeat it until I respond with either “OK” or “I am watching.” The most interesting discovery was that when she would say this in the car while I was driving, all I had to say was “I am listening” in order to get her to proceed. Therein I discovered the lesson that she was not wanting me to watch her as much as she was seeking recognition that I was interested in her and what she was doing.
It was fortuitous timing that I had recently watched a TED talk given by Dan Ariely (see link below) during which he presented research indicating that simply by acknowledging work you can motivate people greatly or consequently, by ignoring it can severely depress motivation. This concept he presented so well in roughly 20 minutes was so eloquently and succinctly driven home for my in those three words of “Daddy watch this.”

Dan Ariely: What makes us feel good about our work?