Every year words are removed from the dictionary for lack of relevance. It’s not surprising to see words like “cassette player” fade from modern vernacular. Still, the words we use have a lot of potential in our efforts to grow grateful kids. Certain words have staying power in a mom’s vocabulary.
To grow gratitude in the hearts of our kids, we have to grab hold of four words and cultivate them in our conversations.
No
Children who always hear “yes” at home will anticipate “yes” from the world. Receiving a “no” isn’t only realistic, it’s routine. Daily life is full of delayed gratification, requirements to yield, acceptance of limitations, and decisions out of our control. Accepting “no” teaches our youngsters that all the world is really not at their disposal. Allowing kids to live with an ever-extended hand of expectation encourages them to lust for extra.
Kids who learn to cope with the reality of “no” learn to appreciate the sweetness of “yes.”
Enough
Leave this out of your family vocabulary, and the world will gladly teach your kids to forever want more. While worldly thinking says strive for something new, something else, and something better, spiritual thinking says to be content with what God provides.
Are you hard to please? Difficult to satisfy? If so, your child will master your modeled pursuit of more. Instead, cultivate an attitude of “enough.” If God supplies all we need and satisfies us with good things, then moms should model giving thanks for having enough.
A grateful heart knows the sweet feeling of fullness.
Thanks
Many a busy mom remembers her blessings but forgets to state her thanks. While we hope and assume our kiddos know we’re grateful, how will they know unless they hear? Simply by practicing the habit of speaking your thanks and praise aloud, dear mom, you will spread an aroma of appreciation in your family.
Hearing our thanks cultivates a harvest of thanks in the hearts of our children.
Grateful
From the day we cradle our babe, the little sponge soaks up the world of vocabulary around him. Their hearts and minds will be filled with language we feed them. What will you say? What words will be the theme of your home? What terms will stand out in the memory of your little one as she grows?
Give them “grateful.” Teach them the value of this term of thanks, this label for contentment, this word of appreciation. Sprinkle it generously around your life together, like red sparkles on holiday cookies or whipped cream on pumpkin pie. Heap it on and use it with abandon.
- “I’m so grateful for our full grocery cart.”
- “I’m grateful for your hugs and smiles.”
- “Let’s tell Grandma how grateful we are for her cooking.”
- “I want Daddy to know how grateful I am for his help.”
- “The frost reminds me of how grateful I am for God’s creativity.”
- “What are you grateful for today?”
Genuine gratitude is a bit of a stranger in the world today, but we can make thanks-giving right at home in the hearts of our kids. Start by using these words in your own conversation and watch your children learn the language of a full heart. These four words have staying power for grateful moms.
“Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!” (Psalm 106:1 – ESV)
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