Do your kids practice thankfulness? Does your child say please and thank you? Also, do they appreciate what you do?

When children are thankful, you know they appreciate what they are expressing thankfulness.

People express thankfulness in different ways. For example, they might give you a drawing they've just made, give you an unexpected hug, give you a verbal compliment or do a random act of kindness.

As their role model, what are you doing to teach them thankfulness?

Are you expressing what you are thankful for in them? Do you have a family gratitude jar? Have you created the habit of sharing what you are grateful for at the dinner table each evening?

By sharing what you all appreciate in life, you develop deeper relationships as you learn what everyone values at that time in their lives.

Benefits

Teaching your children to be thankful has many positive effects.

Increased happiness can lower stress levels and reduce feelings of anxiety.

You can't feel, or focus on, the good and bad at the same time.

Positive emotional feelings are a result of thankfulness, which in turn improves sleep quality and increases motivation.

When you teach your kids to practice thankfulness from a young age, they and you benefit in numerous ways.

In addition to a closer relationship, they are more mindful and develop a positive mindset. To begin with, they recognise what they are thankful for and not grateful for. They can express themselves better in their minds and verbally.

They are recognising positive and negative behaviour in themselves and others.

When respect and kindness aren't present in a relationship, people will be more aware and, hopefully, remove themselves from harmful situations.

Awareness

They will understand character qualities in themselves and others.

Learning this young is essential, as they will need to make choices about what behaviour from others is and isn't acceptable throughout their lives.

Consequently, through observation of others and increased self-awareness, thankful children are usually more considerate and less likely to be self-indulgent and entitled.

The benefit is better behaviour.

Teaching your child thankfulness is a gift you have given them for life.

It benefits their mental health by reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression and improving their overall mood.

Increased feelings of happiness and contentment support their emotional state. Their resilience is strengthened due to their ability to cope with stress and setbacks when they arise.

Mindset

Of course, being thankful and having a positive mindset doesn't mean feeling down, frustrated, angry, or never having a negative thought or feeling. That's just a part of being human.

Practising thankfulness enables the ability to see the positive sooner rather than later.

What a great, lifelong gift to give your child.