With the holiday season looming in front of us I've been thinking about how we help our kids learn to be thankful. Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday, even over Christmas, believe it or not! Yet as I think about the "season" and all the stuff that comes with it, I've noticed that to find a thankful child is a novelty. Of course, part of that may be that it's about as novel to find a thankful adult as well. So how do we do it? My oldest child is not yet 2 so the concept of gratitude is difficult at that age. However, we have started training him to be thankful because I believe that it's a virtue that is extremely important. This past summer a great friend of ours taught our son to sign "thank-you." He added it to his repertoire of signs and he thought it was a great game as all things are when you're one. But now we ask him to say thank you when he is given something. It could be food he asked for, or help he needed with something. It's just a little way that we are helping our child learn the art of thankfulness. Now he can say "teek-oo" but he still signs it, and I think it's pretty cute too! Plus the added bonus is that it reminds ME to practice thankfulness as well! So what are some ideas you have for teaching your kids to be thankful?
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Thank You, Please
With the holiday season looming in front of us I've been thinking about how we help our kids learn to be thankful. Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday, even over Christmas, believe it or not! Yet as I think about the "season" and all the stuff that comes with it, I've noticed that to find a thankful child is a novelty. Of course, part of that may be that it's about as novel to find a thankful adult as well. So how do we do it? My oldest child is not yet 2 so the concept of gratitude is difficult at that age. However, we have started training him to be thankful because I believe that it's a virtue that is extremely important. This past summer a great friend of ours taught our son to sign "thank-you." He added it to his repertoire of signs and he thought it was a great game as all things are when you're one. But now we ask him to say thank you when he is given something. It could be food he asked for, or help he needed with something. It's just a little way that we are helping our child learn the art of thankfulness. Now he can say "teek-oo" but he still signs it, and I think it's pretty cute too! Plus the added bonus is that it reminds ME to practice thankfulness as well! So what are some ideas you have for teaching your kids to be thankful?
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1 comment:
You model it, inside and outside, which is the way our kids pick up most things from us, whether we want them to or not!
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