What's on "Show"?

As writers, there's a little suggestion that's almost a rule: Show don't tell. When it's so much quicker to tell, this can be quite hard, so I thought I'd illustrate an example of what someone can learn without being told a thing.

On my regular commute home, a week or so ago (You wanted a story, didn't you? Don't groan.), I got on a train with a mother, a pram (holding a very young baby), and her four or five year old daughter.

I couldn't see them as my back was to them, but the mother cooed over the baby repeatedly, told him he was lovely, gave him kisses, and probably made him feel like the most loved baby in the world.

What did this show me? Well, how about that she adored that child?