Teaching Children Gratitude: Why?
Practicing gratitude has been one of THE most beneficial things I have done to ease my anxiety and improve my overall outlook on life. I try to start and end each day by listing things I am thankful for, not on paper or in a journal, but just in my head as I lay in bed. I already know this is going to sound crazy, but it is almost as if my positive thoughts physically push away any negative thoughts or anxious feelings that might be rolling around in my head. (Okay, get this girl a straight jacket!) All you really need to take away from this paragraph is, it helps.
Anyway, I really want to concentrate on instilling a sense of gratitude in my children. Gratitude and gratefulness are so important to leading a positive and happy life.
I hope to get them hip to having an “attitude of gratitude” while they are young. The idea is to hopefully prevent them from struggling with the same things I have struggled with. If you haven’t already, please check out my struggle with anxiety post.
What I DON'T Want
My children are still so young ( ages 4 and 2), and I am not willing to tarnish their innocence by showing them how harsh the world can be in order to teach them a lesson. I don’t want them to worry that there are kids who don’t have homes, who don’t have parents, and who don’t have food . They will learn those things soon enough! The tricky part is teaching gratitude without bringing unnecessary negativity into their lives. I don’t want them to feel guilty for the things they have, I just want them to be grateful and appreciative of the them.
Teaching Children Gratitude: How?
- Talking about things we are grateful for at bedtime: Bedtime seems to be a good time at our house to talk about things we are grateful for, mostly because they will do just about anything to keep from having to go to bed. After we read our bedtime stories, we snuggle up and I ask them about the things they are grateful for. We talk about what it means to be grateful and what we are grateful and thankful for. It is a really sweet time I get to share with my kids each night.
- Reading books about gratitude: Reading books about gratitude is another great way to
introduce the subject. Check out this post by Katie of Preschool Inspirations. She put together a great list of books for toddlers that focus on gratitude and thankfulness. - TV shows : I know, I know, I can’t believe I had the nerve to suggest MORE television than what is already being consumed, but bear with me. It is naïve and unrealistic for me to think or even attempt a life without TV, for me or for my kids. Therefore, I am choosing to embrace it. If they are going to be watching TV, it might as well be a program that teaches them something. I google a particular show (i.e. Paw Patrol, Butterbean’s Cafe, etc) to try to find an episode that focuses on the topic I want them to learn about (in this case, gratitude/thankfulness) and queue that baby up. We watch it together, they ask question, I ask questions – it’s a real Walton’s Family moment over here.
- Manners: Nothing is sweeter than a child with manners. They may not fully understand the reasoning behind manners, but it is an important habit to have. One day they will understand and hopefully that habit will already be locked in.
- Modeling gratitude: Have you ever heard the saying, “Children will become their parents, so be the person you want your child to become?” What a powerful message. If you want your kids to live a life of gratitude, then you need to live a life of gratitude. They need to see you being that person, so they will know how to become that person. Say “please” and “thank you.” Notice and comment on selfless acts done by others. Have them help you do something nice for someone else, so they can see the look of happiness on someone’s face. Be the person you want them to become.
Of course, sometimes life happens and we can’t do all of these things in a day or a week (and sometimes not any of them) and that is okay. This parenting thing isn’t about being perfect (thank goodness). The most important thing is that we do our best to show our children how to be a good people (and hopefully we don’t mess them up too much in the process!).
