Every year around the holidays, people look at their lives and reflect on what they have to be thankful for. With everything that's happened this year, I've decided to focus on making this holiday season the one where I cultivate and grow my thankfulness for everything – especially the little things.
And as a mother, it's my responsibility to teach my children to do the same.
So even though Thanksgiving has already passed, I'm still taking advantage of this season and using it to teach my children how to be thankful despite everything that's going on in the world.
Here are three ways I try to instill thankfulness in my children:
1. I teach them awareness and perspective
3. I teach through example
One of the best ways you can teach your child something is through example. These little sponges are constantly watching, listening, and learning: by observing our facial expressions, the way we move our bodies, the tone of our words, and the way we react to certain situations.
I make sure to use my manners around my children to other people, and I make sure to use them when speaking to my children. When I ask my daughter to pick up her toys or to grab something for me, I say "please" and "thank you."
I think sometimes as parents it's easy to forget to use our manners with our children, but it's so important for us to do so.
I also model manners and thankfulness not only by saying them, but by outwardly speaking about my thoughts. If someone holds the door for me, I will say things like, “That was so nice of that person to hold the door open for us. My hands are full so that door would have been tricky to open!” Or I also remind my daughter, “I know it makes you sad that Daddy works, but we are so lucky that he does. He works so I can stay home and we have a house and food! I am so thankful!”
Thankfulness is such an important skill to have, especially right now. We need to remind our kids why we're thankful when things are going well, but also how we can still find things to be thankful for even in the hard times — like 2020.
