Nothing says teaching your kids how to be gracious and thankful like snarling, “I SAID, say THANK YOU!” a thousand times a day. Perhaps THAT is the sentiment that gets into my little Lainy when recently, after I spent an hour searching for her lost sippy cup, she grabbed it, sucked the water down and threw it back at me yelling, “MORE WATERRRRR!!!”
So it goes this time of year. The intentional mom chats, vast gratitude literature, Thanksgiving stories, threats and trying to make saying, “Thank you,” a thing we DO, not just an anomaly for the “present” season.
You probably can already guess the point to this blog. Be the gratitude you wish to see in your children. It is as easy as modeling the behavior, and they will pick up on it- hopefully.
You got it- that’s pretty much the point.
Studies show (I mean, studies PROBABLY show) that leading by example in matters such as gratitude is most -errr probably, pretty effective. I like to think of it as language acquisition by immersion. Immerse your children in a family that has an attitude of gratitude and it is way more likely to sink in… at least I hope so.
That’s how I am trying to instill gratitude and a heart of thanksgiving in my kids- through leading by example.
They continue to yell, throw things, and mumble unintelligible thank you’s. It can feel pointless. But there have been glimmers of hope in my eldest that warm my heart.
He asked to send a thank you card to the lady who gave him a pretzel sample at the mall.
He reminds his siblings to say thank you.
He wrote his daddy a thank you note for buying breakfast burritos to take to the zoo.
As to my little water cup thrower- there is hope. Just last week the kids and I were taking a walk and I hear Levi say, “Here, here you go Lainy, it’s a half a leaf!” Pleased as punch he was at his little offering. I was fully expecting her to ignore him or throw it on the ground. Instead, she took it excitedly and exclaimed, “THANK you, Levi! Ooooh Half a leaf!”
Happy Thanksgiving!
