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| Teaching Gratitude to Your Children by Carolyn Pennington
1. Offer selfless service. In our home, we eat a lot of fresh produce. Sometimes we overbuy. Rather than letting the produce go to waste, we toss a salad or something similar together, and my husband and son run it to the local food bank. They love receiving fresh produce because most of their donations come in the form of cans and boxes. Allowing your children to see how grateful the volunteer workers and those eating there are can really make an impact on your child’s life.This could be done through donating items to a shelter or visiting the elderly in a care facility. The actual act of service is not as important as simply giving it. A little selfless service typically tends to make selfishness go away ... and gratitude return.2. Try going without. From time to time, have a family project that involves going without something important. For example, try making bread for a week rather than buying it, or try biking to any destination less than two miles away. A little sacrifice causes us to miss things that we take for granted and helps us be a little more humble and grateful for the car, or toy, or other item.I find that the learning is more beneficial when this is done in a proactive way, rather than a reactive way. For example, if the child loses the privilege of a toy for disciplinary reasons, the child may not associate receiving the toy back with gratitude. He or she may learn the lesson that if he doesn’t keep his room clean, he loses the privilege of certain toys – a great lesson, by the way – but may miss the principle of gratitude.Try going without as a proactive fun family adventure, and be sure to express your gratitude for the usefulness of the items you went without!3. Expect thanks; don’t guilt thanks. “I work so hard every day for you, and I never hear a word of thanks.” There is nothing wrong with encouraging a child to express gratitude or reminding them. In our home, it is an expectation to say the simple words “thank you” for just about everything. But shaming children into saying it does not raise the vibration level of your home. They will feel badly about it, about you, about themselves ... and probably resent you. Have expectations and allow your children to rise to the occasion.Invite them to say thank you. Tell them you appreciate their nice words, and you will get more and more to be thankful for yourself!Sometimes as parents, we forget that one of the most important roles we play is teacher. It is our responsibility to teach our children principles to guide their lives. Let’s take steps today to teach gratitude to our children and to parent with purpose! Carolyn Pennington is the mother of three beautiful children. After stepping down from teaching at the university level to stay at home with her children, she realized that she wanted to find different ways to share her talents outside of her home. She has created several websites, such as www.raw-food-for-families.com and www.parent-with-purpose.com, authored an e-book, Naturally Sweet Recipes (www.naturallysweetrecipes.com), and designed software (www.visualize-my-life.com). But all of her projects center around one thing: family wellness. Carolyn has a passion for helping families create abundant lives in all areas: physical, spiritual, mental, financial and social. Her largest project to date is the magazine Abundant Family Living (www.abundantfamilyliving.com). It is dedicated to promoting the good news in the community, teaching principles of prosperity and wellness, and bringing communities together.What specific ways have you taught your children to be grateful? | Top | Share Your Thoughts... Sunday, December 28, 2008 02:45:17 PM
VAMomma wrote... great article...where is her website? |
Parenting Helps:
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Teaching your children to be grateful is important for so many reasons. First of all, it makes your child more enjoyable to be around. And people want to do more for those who appreciate their efforts. But if you want them to experience happiness in life, they must learn to be grateful for what they have today. How can you invite more into your life until you are grateful for what you already have?
