March 18, 2023

Quote of the Week

"In ordinary life, we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Thankful

Gratitude is defined as the quality of being thankful. Many experts tell us that being grateful can give us higher levels of overall happiness in our lives. We all want to level up our happiness in this world and we should be teaching our children this skill as well. As parents, we are very good about teaching and encouraging our children to say thank you to others because it is important to make others feel appreciated and happy and it’s just good manners. But did you know there are huge benefits that come from expressing gratitude to both the giver and receiver? This is the reason we need to be very intentional about teaching our children why it is so important to express and show gratitude to others.

Teaching a child to express gratitude can be one of the more challenging parts of parenthood. The concept of gratitude is very abstract. When you think about a young child, their worldview can tend to center around themselves. Teaching and modeling gratitude for your child is so important as they grow up. You are setting them up to be less entitled, more empathetic and mentally healthy. Not to mention less stressed and happier people. Gratitude studies show that there are so many benefits to practicing it everyday. Increased sleep, better moods, fewer health problems, more resilience, increased ability to cope with stressors and overall happiness.

To add to the inspiration on the theme of thankfulness, we came across this sweet video song that will add a little bit of fun and reminder to be thankful each moment possible. We hope you enjoy watching it as we did too. Share it with your kids and if inspired make your own thankful song! [see video]

Reading Corner

Title: Otis Gives Thanks
By: Loren Long
Ages: 0-3

Giving thanks makes Otis happy. He gives thanks for the land and country he loves. Otis is thankful for time to play games like hide-and-seek and ring-around-the-rosy. He cherishes his farm friends who make life on the ranch as happy as can be. And most of all, everyone's favorite tractor is thankful for the greatest thing in life: love.
Told with a sense of warmth, heart, and above all else, gratefulness, this is an uplifting tale that speaks to the soul of Otis' character and reminds readers that taking the time to appreciate our lives is a virtue in itself.

Be the Change

Tonight, recall with your family all of the moments that you are thankful for today. Be intentional about this practice. Model this skill for them. You could do this when you eat dinner or before they go to bed. Ask them what was their favorite part of the day? Then ask them why they are thankful for that part. You can point out the more common things in life and model this behavior of being grateful for even the smallest of moments. You can make this an easy three step process. Ask them what they are thankful for and then ask why they are thankful. Lastly follow up with what behaviors can you repeat to make this happen again? Doing this daily will create routine and encourage this to be a lifelong behavior for them.