As a parent, you always want what is best for your child. You want them to be happy and confident... And If you are anything like me, you're always looking for ways to help them grow into kind, happy and grateful human beings.
But sometimes, getting kids to remember to be grateful for the things they get in their life takes a little extra care and effort.
So today, I wanna help you by sharing 3 ways to teach your kids about gratitude and how to make it into a habit.
Here are 3 simple yet super effective ways you can instill the attitude of gratitude in your home… And of course, you (yourself) can practice this too!!!
It's not just for the kids 🙂
Start a Gratitude Journal
I know that some people (myself included) struggle with making gratitude practice into a habit, so I decided to try something different...
Instead of just telling each other what we're thankful for, we decided to write it down as well. Each day, we spend a couple of minutes writing down the best things that happened that day, and we don't force ourselves to share them with each other or anyone else if we don't feel up to it!
See gratitude is allowed to be your own private space for reflection too.
Using a gratitude journal has been really helpful in building our resilience, feeling more connected and happier, and honestly we're creating skills for life.
When gratitude is practiced together as a family, it truly strengthens your relationships and brings so much joy into your day.
To help making gratitude into a habit I created a FREE 21-day Gratitude Journal and you can download it here for free.
Within the 21-day gratitude journal I've also created a Gratitude Worksheet with Daily Journal Prompts - just so we can dig a little deeper into the feelings of gratitude and get kick start the process.
How to find gratitude in darker times
The idea of trying to be grateful whilst going through some challenging times can perhaps feel overwhelming. If your child is struggling through challenging times or feeling big feelings - the key in these situations is to try and look for small pieces of light instead. To look for things in your surrounding that you are happy that you have or think is beautiful.
Being able to acknowledge that you still have something to be grateful for during challenging times is a skill that’s worth working on.
What works well for our family during challenging moments is to simply take a moment, look around where we are; find something we can see and simply say thank you for having this in our life.
By doing this, doesn’t mean we don't acknowledge the feeling we are feeling or trying to gloss over it – it's just about look for a tiny sliver of good in every moment.
Let's model gratitude
Ultimately - children model what they see and you are your child's primary teacher.
Gratitude can be learned at any age, but it is especially important for children to learn the skills of gratitude as they are then able to express gratitude to the world around them. The ripple effect of gratitude then continues to grow.
Children always look to adults to model their own behavior and if our children don't see us practicing gratitude, they may never learn how important it is.
Say"thank you" when you mean it, and make sure your child knows when you are grateful for something they do too.
If we want our children to be grateful, we MUST try to model gratitude ourselves or simply start practising it and learn together as a family. That is when our 21-day gratitude journal will help. It's a resource you can use together.
Download your FREE gratitude Journal
When we created the free printable 21-day gratitude journal, we created a gratitude resources that's not just for your child to use and learn from - it's for you too!
I hope you found this information helpful and, most of all, that you are able to use it to make a difference in your life.The world is a better place because of people like you! So thank you, thank you, thank you!
Here is the link again to the FREE printable 21-day gratitude challenge journal, you will love it!
Love Tess x