Monday Morning Gratitude

I often speak about how important it is to teach Gratitude to our children. In this fast-paced consumer driven world, it's so easy for these simple principles to get lost. You've seen me write before about things that I do with my daughter. She's constantly learning and we are continually re-inforcing. There is so much stimulus these days--much more than I was ever exposed to--that we have to be consistent.

I got this great little article from a Phillipino newspaper this morning in my in box. It's a very simple article about teaching Gratitude to your kids. Read on and enjoy...

Teach Gratitude to Your Kids
By Trinidad Cayading

DO YOU ever feel like your children continually want and expect more stuff? Perhaps they don't respect or take care of the things they already have.

How do we teach our children to be humble and grateful for what they have? It can be difficult sometimes to convince our children how blessed they really are. One way we can help teach gratitude to our children is by showing gratitude ourselves.

Do you ever find yourself complaining about not having enough or are you continually mindful and grateful for what you do have? Children really notice the way we as parents talk about such things.

One way you can show (and teach) gratitude is by remembering to say "thank you" for the little things to family members and others. Another way to show gratitude is through prayer.

By praying out loud, your children can hear you expressing thanks for your blessings. Be sure to thank God for the blessing of your wonderful children -- and be sure to state each of their names!

Many years ago I heard the phrase: "Have An Attitude of Gratitude!" It stuck with me every since. If we have an "attitude of gratitude," then chances are our children will too. It made up a little game to keep us amused and grateful for our blessings.

As we trudged up this steep slippery hill in the dead of winter to attend our classes, we would say something like (in an exaggerated voice of course) "Boy, I am sure grateful to be getting this wonderful education -- aren't you?" Then whoever responded would have to think of something positive back, and so on. Then one of us would respond, "Yeah and we are so lucky that we get to walk up this big hill every morning -- look at all of the free exercise we are getting!" "Yeah, good thing we don't have a car -- I mean then we would have to drive around in circles looking for a parking place." "Yeah, we sure are lucky aren't we!" It was a silly little game but it kept us smiling and cheerful, and it was entertaining to see who could come up with the best responses.

We can play similar "games" with our children. I recently heard a story about someone who used her creativity to display a positive attitude when things went wrong.

For example, if someone cut her off in traffic, instead of becoming angry she would try and come up with the most outlandish story possible about why that driver was driving so fast. She would say something like, "Wow, maybe his wife is about to have a baby any second and they have to hurry and get to the hospital before she delivers in the car..." Then her child might take over and come up with a completely different story about why that driver cut them off. Pretty soon they would all be laughing at each other's stories and forget all about the car that cut them off.

Sometimes it is our kids that teach us these valuable lessons of gratitude. The other day I drove my kids to school as I do every morning and my 10-year-old daughter said, "Thanks mom for driving me to school today!" It was a little thing but it made me feel good!

Then when I started clearing the table after dinner she said: "Thanks for helping us in the kitchen mom!" "WOW -- does she want something," I wondered?

Then today I received a hand-written note that said "Thank you mom for not letting me quit piano..." Was this really my daughter -- the one who complains each and every day about having to practice a measly 30 minutes? Gratitude... maybe there is hope after all...!

In gratitude,
Deanna

P.S. Just remember my saying, "Gratitude is an attitude and attitude is everything."