Teaching Your Kids to be Grateful
Avoiding the pressure of holiday media

It isn't easy to teach your kids to appreciate what they have when they are constantly being bombarded with advertising messages during the holiday season promoting the latests children's toys and gadgets. But if you take the time to encourage them to be grateful for what they have and to swim against the rising tide of consumerism, you'll be giving them a far greater gift than anything you can buy in a store. You'll be teaching them to be happy with less-something that can improve their quality of life tremendously, both today and well into the future.

Here are some tips on teaching kids to feel grateful for what they have.

• Be a good role model for your children. Rather than drooling over brochures for expensive cars or oohing and ahhing over the neighbours' new home theatre system, make a point of regularly expressing gratitude for the sources of joy in your life. Don't make the mistake of limiting your gratitude to material possessions alone, however, or you'll be sending the not-too-subtle message to your kids that it's what you have that counts. Instead, make a point of expressing your gratitude for the people in your life who mean the most to you.
• Let your kids know how lucky they are to be living in a safe country like the U.S. While you don't want to dwell on the misfortunes of others, it doesn't hurt to point out what life is like for people in other parts of the world. Your kids may be shocked to learn that some children go to bed hungry — a real eye-opener if their definition of poverty has, up until now, meant living in a household with only one TV!
• Remind your kids that more isn't necessarily better and that advertising messages are carefully crafted to created an insatiable appetite for the latest (but not necessarily greatest) gizmos. One website that is definitely worth a look is PBS Kids' Don't Buy It: Get Media Smart. www.pbskids.org/dontbuyit. This site teaches kids about the rather questionable methods advertisers use to market products to kids and adults and teaches them to think critically when they're analyzing advertising messages.
• Let your kids know how much you appreciate it when they express their gratitude for something you've done for them, like helping them with their homework or taking them to the movies. After all, they'll be more likely repeat the behaviour if it elicits a positive response from you.
• Encourage your kids to write in their own Gratitude Journal at the end of each day. Make it a challenge to reflect on their day and remember how many things, events or people have made their day just a little better.
• Remember that Rome wasn't built in a day. As you've no doubt noticed by now, children don't come pre-wired with a sense of gratitude: they have to acquire it along the way. So try not be become too discouraged if your seven year old rarely remembers to say thank you for anything or if your fourteen year old seems to feel that the world owes him anything his little heart desires. It takes time to teach kids values, but, with any luck, your efforts will be rewarded down the road.

Source: www.motherofallbooks.com