“Kids today don’t appreciate anything.” “This generation is so entitled.” “These days parents spoil their kids.”
I know I’ve heard these phrases more than once! I feel the pressure to make sure my children are grateful little gremlins, er cherubs. This is NOT easy. Young children are ego-centric and it takes some practice! Here are a few strategies we use to encourage an attitude of gratitude in our home.
The best thing any parent can do to inspire certain behaviors in their children is to exhibit those behaviors themselves. We say please and thank you. I try to speak thoughts of appreciation aloud for my kids to hear, even if it has nothing to do with them. “Thanks for taking the trash out,” to my husband or “Thank you for lunch, grandma!”
We don’t always make the time to do thank-you notes, but I love it when we do! My oldest son’s birthday was in September and we just sent out the last thank-you note last week. It’s November, you guys. November. But, they were adorable! He wrote thank you and his name and drew a picture of the gifts he received. It doesn’t have to be fancy to be sincere!
In our family we say prayers at bedtime. Usually the kids just pick people to pray for, but sometimes they tell me they are too tired. I always take this opportunity to say what things I am thankful for. Now they throw in what they are thankful for even when they aren’t tired! (Thank you for the playtime with grandma. Thank you for the nice sunshine today. ETC)
Because I stay at home with the kids, I generally do more chores around the house. I often include the kids, because I don’t want them to think it’s magic that they have clean clothing and the floors are (sometimes) vacuumed. I say things like “Let’s get the laundry out of the dryer.” “Help me put the dishes out, please.” “Let’s clean up the toys together.” “I need to do these jobs for our family.” “If you won’t let me have time to fold your clothing, it won’t be there when you need to get dressed the next day.”
The last thing we do is limited gift giving throughout the year. We don’t pick out a toy at Target. We don’t get whatever treats are requested at the grocery store. We LOVE to give them presents at birthdays and Christmas, but that’s generally it, aside from a few things for a specific purpose, like a new puzzle for rainy days on our beach vacations, or a new book about a value we are trying to help them with.
These are the strategies that work for our family. It makes me happy when I don’t have to remind them to say “Thank you!” On that note, thank YOU for reading my blog post today!
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