Teaching Gratefulness
If you have ever heard me speak about children before, then you already know that this Blog title is bogus. Why? Because I have said for years that gratefulness cannot be taught, it has to be experienced.
I heard a story some time ago about a woman who was looking for legal help in getting her 24-year-old daughter out of her house. She loved her child but realized that she was not doing anything to better her life and, in fact, was bringing drama to parent’s life. She lived in a room where she wouldn’t clean anything. Under her bed were leftover food and dirty clothes. She had no goals and when asked to get up and help around the house, she simply said, “I didn’t ask to be born, you brought me here… you handle it.” We live in a world where many have been bombarded with a ‘spirit of entitlement’.
You may ask ... “How do we deal with the ‘spirit of entitlement’ with our kids?” Well, one of the best ways to battle entitlement is with gratefulness. We somehow have to let our kids know what it is to be grateful. The only problem is gratefulness is not what you do, it is a state of being. It can’t be taught so how do we get our kids to experience it?
Some ways we do this is by:
- · Not giving them everything they ask for
- · Allowing them to work towards goals for things they want
- · Teach them the value of work and money
- · Open a savings account and have them keep track of it
- · Have them participate in volunteer work
- · Visit places where others are hurting or lack basic needs
- · Help them count their blessings: Remind them of what they enjoy daily
Years ago, we took children on an outing with our Nursing Home ministry. Not only did we give them the speech about respecting the resident’s property we made them aware of the smells, and sights that might not be the best. But we also let them know that some of the residents were parents and grandparents who may not get a visit from their families very often.
It was amazing to see how the hearts of those children were touched. The kids were respectful, never complained about the various aromas, they were kind and soft spoken during our visit. Being able to go home to a warm house and sit with family meant more to them that night.
Gratefulness is not learned, it is experienced. It comes from seeing life when it is less than desirable, then looking at yourself. When you see how your life COULD have been and realize that it isn’t that, It helps to generate gratefulness.
This season, remind your kids about all those who don’t have what they do. It might be simple things like family or a roof, food on the table or perhaps even the gifts. Gratefulness is one of the best ways to battle entitlement. Let’s try to be more grateful and help our children be the same.
