Don’t Just Stuff the Turkey!

– stuff your child with gratitude.

Thanksgiving is just days away and in addition to stuffing the turkey, have you considered stuffing your child with a sense of gratitude as well? This is definitely the season to give thanks and be grateful but doing so should be our focus year round.

The holiday season is now in full swing and the hustle and bustle that goes with it is here to stay for the next month. During this time of year, I’ve witnessed people in a quest for that popular item that everyone seems to need – and they are willing to get up in the wee hours of morning to stand in line for it. This, “I want”, “I need”, “I must have attitude” is very prevalent.

Is this that the attitude you want your child to develop? Greedy little whiners are easy to cultivate in our commercialized and media saturated culture. We live in an extremely materialistic world and children are naturally born to be egocentric. These two ingredients set the stage for creating materialistic adults unless you mindfully nurture a different outcome – and you have the power to alter this trajectory.

Is developing an attitude of gratitude more to your liking? If so, allow me to add some strategies and ideas to what you are already doing. Acquiring an attitude of gratitude does take time, patience and consistency but it will definitely help your child live a more contented life. If this is your mission, here’s an article with some ideas to help you achieve this goal – Growing Gratitude in Children With or Without Autism