Teaching Kids to Be Thankful

So let's do a little imagining.  Just close your eyes and picture you and the people you love the best on  your dream vacation.

Where are you?  At the beach?  In the mountains?  Maybe you are at Disney . . .hey, I don't know!  It's your fantasy, not mine.

And everybody's laughing, right?  Smiling from ear to ear?  I thought so.  :)

Attitude really IS everything.  And today I want to just spend a few minutes telling you about one of my favorite attitudes:  thankfulness.

I can't remember when we decided that family dinners were going to be a tradition at our house, but they are.  No TV, no electronic devices and we all hang out in the same room.  ( It used to be around a table but since Hubby hurt his back we've been in the living room)  By the way, google family dinners and you will be SHOCKED at how many benefits they offer the modern kid.  Really a good idea.  But anyway.

We do family dinners.

And we talk.

Let me be honest.  Sometimes people are tired and crabby.  Sometimes they are distracted.  But guess what?

We've come up with a way to beat up the blahs.  It's not original with us (without taking the time to google it and confirm, I want to say that monks invented this concept).

Each person says what their highlight for the day was.  And each person also tells what their lowlight was.  If you have the time and inclination, tell everybody something that you learned that day.

It looks something like this:

Mom:  "My highlight was the way you guys cleaned up the living room with such a great attitude!  You worked together so well!"

"My lowlight is that Daddy's back hurts."

Child 1:  "My highlight is that I get to sing alto at the next choir concert!  We had auditions and I got the part I want!"

"My lowlight is that Audrey is still causing drama!"

There is something about everyday acknowledging the good in your life that makes things beautiful.  It makes your children beautiful.  Now, as for the lowlights . . .those are super important, too.  Why?  Because through those questions you learn bits about their life that you would NEVER have heard about otherwise.  And you can offer empathy and occasionally, solutions, from everybody.

And the great thing is that it becomes so easy and natural to share with each other after you've done this a bit . . .after all, you can be just as shallow or deep as you like.  It's fun to include visitors, too.

Here's to you and your loved ones and your family dinners!

~ Jennifer