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Quote of the Week
"One of the greatest lessons that adults can learn from children is the enviable ability to find happiness with simplicity" - Summer Jeirles
Teaching Your Child The Art Of Happiness
"Happiness is closely linked to three kinds of habits:
1. How we think and feel about the world, and therefore perceive our experiences.
2. Certain actions or habits, such as regular exercise, eating healthfully, meditating, connecting with other people, even -- proven in study after study -- regularly smiling and laughing!
3. Character traits such as self-control, industry, fairness, caring about others, citizenship, wisdom, courage, leadership, and honesty.
In practice, these character traits are just habits; tendencies to act in certain ways when confronted with certain kinds of situations. And certainly it makes sense that the more we exhibit these traits, the better our lives work and the better we feel about ourselves, so the happier we are.
Some of the habits that create happiness are visible, the ways Grandma told us we ought to live: work hard, value relationships with other people, keep our bodies healthy, manage our money responsibly, contribute to our community.
Others are more personal habits of self management that insulate us from unhappiness and create joy in our lives, such as managing our moods and cultivating optimism. But once we make such habits part of our lives, they become automatic and serve a protective function.
How can you help your child begin to develop the habits that lead to happiness?" [read more]
Reading Corner
 Name: Growing Up with a Bucket Full of Happiness: Three Rules for a Happier Life
By: Carol McCloud
Ages: 8+
"Growing Up with a Bucket Full of Happiness Carol McCloud is taking the bucket filling message to the next level. Not only does she talk about new levels of bucket filling and bucket dipping, but this book goes into depth about how to put a lid on your bucket. There are examples of how important situations in life need a lid to protect our buckets from being empty." - Reviewer
Recommended by Cubs Editors
Be The Change
One question you could try this week with your child is to ask "what was your moment of grace today?" You could make this a nice dinner time / end of the day circle. This could help them look at every situation with a different pair of eyes. It would also be nice to share the same questions as adults and model your moments of grace with them. This exchange of stories can create deeper and stronger ties of connection, commitment and compassion with each other and the world around!
Kindful Kids newsletter is a resource for parents who are keen to teach children about compassion and service. It reaches 4,026 subscribers. You can unsubscribe here.
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