Grateful kids

A much needed day off happened today.  A day where I was surrounded by my girls.   A day filled with laughter.  A day filled with fun.  A day filled with smiles.  At least that is the kind of day that I expected to happen.   For the most part, the day was wonderful, but before the sun had awakened one daughter had already complained no less than nine times.   The complaining was apparently catching and pretty soon I had three complainers on my hands.

This ungrateful stance led me down a path where I began to wonder...  Have I instilled thankful hearts in my daughters?  Am I complaining so much that it is rubbing off on them?  My prayer journal is filled with thanks.  I have pages and pages of praise and thanksgiving for all the wonderful things in my life.  Do they know that?  Do they see my heart as thankful or as ungrateful?

God clearly calls us to give thanks.  He doesn't call us to give thanks occasionally. He doesn't call us to give thanks only when something really great happens, but instead He calls us to give thanks ALL the time.  "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."  1 Thessalonians 5:18.   

I fully believe that having a thankful heart leads to pure joy.  I want my daughters to experience a life where they can fully experience the blessing God has poured out for them.  I want them to experience the joy of thanking God for the small things-  for the fridge full of food, for socks right out of the dryer, for snuggles, and stolen moments of family time.    The more they thank God for these things, the easier it will be to be thankful on the days when things are not quite as easy.

All that remains then is this:  How can I better teach my daughters to have thankful hearts?  To do this I think there are two different categories.  The first category is full of  things I can do everyday, and the second are things we can do in the long-term.

Ways to be thankful everyday:

1. Stop and thank God out loud for the everyday things that surround us. These are the things I am already praying in my head, but I can share them out loud!  I can give them concrete examples!  If I am not thanking God out loud then they won't be either!

2. Ask them the question: What would you like to thank God for today?  This is something we do in our evening prayers.  We thank God for something that happened that day.  It is one of my favorite moments at bedtime.  

3.  Say "Thank you!"  Sounds simple enough right?  But kids are not going to say thank you unless we are!    Be the example and say thank you!   Bonus points if you thank your child!

Ways to expand their thankful hearts:

1. Create a thankful jar.  This idea is simple enough, decorate a jar and leave it somewhere that the kids can fill it with slips of paper listing things they are thankful for.

2.  Keep Thank you cards in the house.   I love sending thank you cards, and I love having my daughters help.

3.  Create a bigger picture.  Volunteer, and help other people.  I want my daughters to experience a world, and a life story that is bigger than just them.  By creating a bigger story my daughters can grow to be thankful for what they have.

4.  Refill the glass.  It is normal for everyone to see the glass as half empty from time to time.  But I can look for moments to teach my daughters to see the silver lining in those situations!