Recently I ordered and began reading a new book entitled, Growing Grateful Kids by Susie Larson. I was intrigued by the title right away because of course I wanted my girls to learn to be grateful. How many times had I lamented to our daughters, “Can’t you just be thankful for what you have?”
So I opened the book, ready to discover the best way to put the attitude of gratitude into our children. And right off the bat, I read, “The key is to realize that as a parent you cannot impart what you do not possess. So growing grateful kids means learning to be a grateful parent – and that means genuine gratitude for everything from one pancake for breakfast to a flower smiling at you through a crack in the sidewalk.”
Wow! And here I thought this book was going to be all about how to “fix” my kids. Turns out, it was going to be about “fixing” by my attitude first! Was I truly grateful for every thing we’d been blessed with? Was I imparting the value of gratefulness with my everyday actions? Joseph Joubert said, “To teach is to learn twice.” If I want our children to learn gratefulness, it seemed the biggest lesson would be mine.
“Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always. Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles and the judgments he pronounced.” Psalms 105:1, 4-5
PS - I'm linking up at the Monthly Blog Carnival at (in)courage!
Come check it out for more stories of thanksgiving!
This is something I CONSTANTLY have to remind myself - I can't tell my kids to be grateful... I have to show them what it means. My kids won't do what I tell them, I can only hope they will model the behavior I exhibit - and clearly I'm not always on my best behavior :) Thank you for the reminder!
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