GRATITUDE DETERMINES ATTITUDE

Does gratitude help shape our mindsets and moods? 100% it does.

 

The more we teach our children to talk to themselves in a healthy manner, the more socially equipped they are going to be. Being SELF-AWARE is one of the five components of Emotional Intelligence which our children need now more than any other time in history. 

 

Children spending hours per day on a device instead of playing outside or hanging with friends is actually starting to show negative effects in developmental standards. Kids are behind in speech, social skills, and are having a difficult time with the 5 Cs: Cooperation, Communication, Concentration, Coordination, and the ability to Compromise. If we want our children to be happy and healthy, we need to teach them mental skills early and thoroughly.

 

HOW CAN WE USE GRATITUDE TO SHAPE ATTITUDE?

1. Start with role modelling gratitude by talking this way to your kids.
2. Teach them how to self-talk and how to manage negative self-talk.
3. Express to your children the importance of thank-yous. In a society where most of us have running water, AC, and food every day, we forget to be thankful for all of the small things. 
4. Teaching gratitude can look like this: “Oh wow, you had dinner at your friend’s house. That is a special time. Did you have fun?” Don’t ask what they ate; ask what did you do? 
5. Talk about gratitude at dinner and before bed. Making lists of what they are grateful for focuses on what is valuable and precious. I recall my then 7 year old daughter telling me “my Barbies had a good tea party and all of them have their heads still.”
6. Mantras before bed are very effective. Age determines which ones they wish to say: I am fast, I am like a cheetah or Superman or Wonder Woman, I am a problem solver, I am working on my swimming, I am progressing, I am patient, I am organized. Parents, we can say them before bed at night too!

 

Gratitude takes time to learn and teach; it is not learned overnight. Being consistent with gratitude recognition will help determine a healthy attitude for children to succeed.

 

Larissa Mills, B. A., M.Ed. is the founder
of Iparentgen.com. She is a mother of three, a Parent Coach and a 4KIDS Sports & Educational Consultant.