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Mom Laughs By Cheryl Moeller
Simplifying Motherhood By Trish Berg
Ask A Twin Mommy By Cheryl Lage
Mothering By Heart By Cheri Fuller
Jelly Mom By Lisa Barker
Family Check-up By Sheila Wray Gregoire
Parent to Parent By Jodie Lynn
Moments for Mom By Elisabeth Corcoran
Making the Most of Marriage By Paula Friedrichsen
How to Teach Your Child about Gratitude
By Christine Louise Hohlbaum
Giving thanks is not only reserved for Thanksgiving, but the holiday serves as a gentle reminder of the importance and simplicity of gratitude. How can we teach our children about thankfulness without beating them over the head with it? When thinking about how to teach my children about gratitude, I had to reflect on my grandmother’s compulsion to send thank-you cards. Through her guidance (and yes, often prompting!), I learned to send thank-you cards at a very early age.
My children are learning to give thanks when they receive nice gifts or letters from their relatives. We’ve started off by writing the word “thank you” on top of their coloring pages and sending them off as thank you “notes”. Later, we will graduate to sending longer letters or cards.
Craft projects are another avenue for teaching children about gratitude. We have designed a gratitude turkey made out of construction paper. Each day in November, we take a colorful paper feather and write something on it for which we are grateful. It is a fun way to remind them of the things they have.
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Coloring pages with various holiday themes can help illustrate what you are trying to teach your children. It is a fun way to talk about the pilgrim’s passage to the New World and the relationship they had with the Native Americans. For free printables, go to these sites:
http://www.free-printables.com/archive/Holidays/Thanksgiving/
http://coloringbookfun.com/thanks/
Scrapbooks are another neat way to reflect on thankfulness. Take several sheets of paper and staple them together. On each page, paste a picture or a magazine cut-out of things for which your children are thankful. Help them write the item’s name underneath the picture. Now you have a keepsake that will last longer than one season. Date the book and pull it out every year. You may even want to add to it as the years go by. For older children, you may want to create a gratitude journal in which they can write lengthier passages.
When Thanksgiving Day arrives, take turns telling each other the things for which you are thankful at the table. You may just be surprised at how much your children have learned through your efforts!
© Christine Louise Hohlbaum, 2004-
Christine Louise Hohlbaum, parenting humorist and author of the world-renowned book Diary of a Mother, inspires mothers everywhere through her powerful stories. She is a frequent guest on NPR and has appeared as an expert in Boston Globe magazine, Parenting, Pregnancy, Parents, and more. Christine is available to speak at your event whether in Europe or North America. As a mother of two living near Munich, Germany, Christine publishes an entertaining ezine based upon real-life experiences. Visit diaryofamother.com or e-mail her at christine AT diaryofamother DOT com.
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