How do you help your child develop an attitude of gratitude? In our world today, I feel like that is getting harder and harder to do. A recent post on the Parent Cue Instagram states that “Gratitude isn’t an inherent emotion. Gratitude is learned.” They offered four ways to model gratitude to our children:

1. Be vocal about the things YOU are grateful for.

2. Make sure your family knows you’re grateful for what they do.

3. Create a habit of serving others together.

4. Use key moments in your family’s rhythm for gratitude check-ins.

These four ideas are practical and can be added into our lives with a little bit of intentionality. Below are some useful examples of each that I hope will help illustrate some tangible ways to include them in your own life, in your own way.

Be vocal about the things YOU are grateful for.

The best way for our children to learn an attitude of gratitude is to practice one ourselves. The next time you are grateful for something, say it aloud for your children to hear, and then explain to them why you are grateful. For example, it is a busy afternoon after school and you need to run by the store and grab one last item for dinner. The parking lot is full, and you are not looking forward to unloading the car and shuffling everyone inside. As you pull around the next row, a prime parking spot becomes available. “Yay! I am so grateful for this spot to park! This will make it much easier for us to get in and out of the store quickly so that we can get home.”

Make sure your family knows you’re grateful for what they do.

It may seem too easy. Of course, we should say “thank you.” But if you think about it, do you say it often enough? Do you let them know why you are thankful? For example, your child folded and put away the kitchen towels. This saved you some time so that you could finish the rest of the laundry.

Create a habit of serving others together.

There are many family-friendly opportunities for service this time of year. If you are local, you can volunteer at the Mission Arlington Christmas Store. Mission Arlington and many other shelters in your area are always in need of pantry goods. Take a trip to the store as a family, or one on one with your children. Let them select some items, put them in the basket, and help scan and bag the items in a self-checkout line. Make a point to deliver these items together as a family.

Use key moments in your family’s rhythm for gratitude check-ins.

Think about some of your family’s routines. Do you try to eat breakfast or dinner together at the table during the week? Do you all ride in the same car together at least once a week? Take time during your regular family rhythms and play the Gratitude Game. Each family member has a turn to share something that they are grateful for and why. During this season of thankfulness, my children enjoy making a Thankful Tree, or Thankful Turkey. You can find instructions to make your own from Busy Toddler, here. Each day after dinner, we write something that we are grateful for and add it on a leaf for our tree, or a feather for our turkey.

The four steps from Parent Cue are a wonderful way to help incorporate this practice into your family life and begin cultivating an attitude of gratitude in your own home. What is something that you will try to add this season?

P.S. Join us on Wednesday, November 30th, for a Christmas Party for families with preschoolers and elementary children in the Fellowship Hall at 6:30pm