14-A Share Gratitude with Your Children

Hello,
Last week we explored gratitude and everything we are thankful to have in our lives.  This week, for those of you that are parents, share the lesson of gratitude with your children.  You may already have some great things in place to teach gratitude to your children, but if not, find your unique way to let them know how wonderful things are.  There is always something to be positive and appreciative about and teaching them this is a great lesson. 

My family has a ritual/tradition that we do some nights when we are having dinner together.  We take turns going around the table and we get to share with everyone else something we love about them.  We don't do this every night, but when we do, my kids really love it.  They sometimes ask "can we do that thing where we say I love it about you"?  They even include all of our pets when it is their turn to say what they love.  They not only get to leave feeling good about what was said about them, they also get to learn how it feels to say something nice about someone else.  Some nights this changes into something great that we loved about our day, but the message is the same.  We can find gratitude for the things around us especially if we are taught to look for it.

For topic 14-B on Friday, I would love to be able to share some of your great ideas about how you teach/show your children gratitude.  Please email me with your best ideas and I will include some of your responses in my Friday blog post.  Email me at coachgaye@redefinebalance.com by Thursday to be included in the post.

Questions:
Either journal about these questions or spend some time thinking about your answers.
- How do you share gratitude with your family?
- Is there a way you can incorporate more of this into your life?
- What does gratitude look like to your children?
- What benefits will your children get by being more gracious?
- Do you think being gracious is important for them to understand?
- If so, what can you do to teach this to them?

Fieldwork:
Find your family's perfect way to share gratitude with your children.  What will you do to show them the power of being positive and being gracious for everything they have in life?  Remember to email me some of your great ideas!  coachgaye@redefinebalance.com

Quote: Sir John Templeton-How wonderful would it be if we could help our children and grandchildren to learn thanksgiving at an early age. Thanksgiving opens the doors. It changes a child's personalitiy. A child is resentful, negative- or thankful. Thankful children want to give, they radiate happiness, they draw people.


Enjoy the journey!
Coach Gaye