How To Teach Your Child To Be Thankful
The holidays are approaching. Another year has blown by. Our
children have grown miraculously before our eyes. As the
Thanksgiving holiday approaches, we pause to reflect on our
blessings - what we're thankful for. For many of us, we struggle
with the concept of blessings as it requires that we take a long
hard look at our lives and acknowledge our strengths, as well as
our struggles.
As adults, we have the emotional maturity to engage in quiet
introspection. Children, however, require mentoring around the
abstract concepts of giving thanks and acknowledging the bounty
in their lives. Though difficult to communicate in terms that
children, especially young children, can understand, it is
essential to provide guided introspection around the holidays so
that children learn these valuable skills and can begin to
appreciate how different our lives would be without good health,
love, and family.
Some children will not have the maturity to understand
introspection and reflection but they can be taught that
"bounty" or "plenty" does not refer to material things.
Meet Tom:
Tom is 6 yrs old. His mom and dad separated 4 months ago. This
will his first big holiday with his parents living apart. Tom
lives all week with his mom and his dog Charlie. He goes to his
dad's every other weekend.
During a recent visit with his father, Tom awoke several times
during the night - on both Friday and Saturday. Dad shared the
change in Tom's sleep pattern with mom and both agreed to watch
Tom to determine if it was a temporary change or an indication
of a deeper problem.
Tom continued his nighttime awakenings over the next 10 days and
exhaustion was catching up with him. Mom received reports back
from school that Tom exhibited uncharacteristic behavior.
Formerly a bright and sunny child, he seemed more irritable and
moody.
Uncertain how to handle the change, they called upon expert
help. After several discussions with Tom and his parents, it was
clear that Tom was reacting to having his family split for the
first time during a holiday.
His parents were educated on how to show Tom to see change in a
way that would be more accepting. They were also taught the
value of the concepts of thankfulness and plenty as a tool to
accept change.
Together they worked to instill these values in their son,
showing Tom that having plenty did not mean having all the
coolest toys, that the things that matter are family, good
health, and feelings. Tom was guided to change his perception of
his parent's separation and focus on their abundance of love for
him rather than on the fact that they did not live together. He
was shown how to be thankful for his family and all that they
shared. As Tom began to understand the true meaning of what it
means to be thankful, his nighttime awakenings stopped.
This holiday season, keep in mind the following tips:
1. Awareness: Of those things that are plentiful in your life
2. Teach: Your children the concept of plenty in terms of
non-material stuff.
3. Strengthen: ways to draw upon the bounty in your life and
build upon it.