Raising a Grateful Child

  Oh how we love the holidays! The hustle and bustle, good times with family and friends, the food, all makes for great memories. This year's holidays however, were especially a time to remember for my family and I. I was reminded on how important it is to parent with gratitude in order to raise a grateful child.
   Children are born believing that the world revolves around them. The moment that they enter the world they are extremely yet innocently demanding. Every need is catered to with just a simple cry. Rather it's food, a diaper change, climate change, or even a foot rub, we're on it. However as parents/guardians and adults, we have the task of teaching them otherwise. Trust, it is for their own good and for our sanity. The earlier they're made aware, the better.
  My five year old son started kindergarten this school year and I was so elated, kindergarten is so cool. I've seen such a change in him. He went from mid-day naps and coloring days to spelling and reading new words, all within the same year. Super exciting, right?
  So now that my son is five, I'm noticing a personality change along with those of his peers.
 Some children have more conspicuously competitive personalities, which isn't unnatural to the mellow or happy-go-lucky personalities. Whatever the personality type is, kids still tend to compare what they have verses their friends. "Why are her boots purple and mine are blue? Well I want hers and not mine." That's when our grateful instincts kick in.
                                                            Gratefulness

  The best way to handle the above scenario, is to start by explaining to our children what it means to be grateful. Every child should be taught that it is okay to be different and/or to not have what others have. The key is to not look at how full their peers hands are but to appreciate all that they have. As a parent, it was very important for me to show my son what gratitude looks like.  "Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6.
  I began on a Monday morning, as he was preparing for school, by asking him to name three things that he's thankful for. Granted he named things such as fruit snacks, lunch time at school and his new watch. So then I asked him how would he feel if he didn't have lunch time or if he lost his watch. In essence, I wanted to bring his attention to what it would feel like to be without those things. He expressed his feelings and needless to say, he stated he would be sad. I then expressed to him the importance of taking care of his watch and showing that he was happy for lunchtime, hence gratefulness. Now with that lesson being taught, he definitely shows more awareness and gratitude for his things.
  None the less, gratitude is one of the most important values in life. It's imperative to instill it in our children. It promotes true happiness and well rounded individuals. I call it the fruit of parenting. Ah! Joy and happiness.


- "Let them praise the Lord
 for his great love and for the wonderful 
things he has done for them"
Psalms 107:21

Comments

  1. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us. I think it is so important to raise a grateful child.

    Warmly,
    Celeste | ohhelloceleste.com

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  2. Gratitude is a wonderful lesson to teach! My son is in kindergarten this year too. It's so exciting to see them start to read and write!

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  3. Looks like you're bringing your kids up amazingly. I love that you are teaching them lessons like this - will prepare them for life in the best possible way!

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  4. This is wonderful! I am really struggling with this with our two boys. Trying to raise good kids!

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  5. Raising a grateful kiddo is one of the most important things to me! Thanks for sharing these ideas ;)

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  6. I have a five-year-old too, and I'm definitely notice the change that comes from them noticing their friends. At this age of feels like gratefulness is something that we will have to instill on almost a daily basis, but well worth the time spent doing it. This is a great way of trying to teach them on their level!

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  7. This is a great article--it's so important to instill gratefulness in our kids! It's something I worry about a lot...am I doing everything I can to raise a good, kind, grateful human!? Loved this.

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