On Thanksgiving, we give thanks to the people, places and things in our lives.
We post pictures of what we are thankful for, we make a beautiful meal for that day to share how appreciative we are and e tell the people in our lives how thankful we are.
But, what about the rest of the year? What about the other 364 days of the year? Do we carry this energy during the other parts of year, when it matters most? I say not.
I get it, Thanksgiving marks a huge day for the start of our country, but we should be thankful every day of the year and not just exercise this gratefulness on one day of the year.
One of the life lessons that I see very important to instill in my children is a mindset Thankfulness.
WHY?
A mindset of gratitude and appreciation can aid people to go through life’s darkest fazes, promote an optimistic view of different circumstances, can help with focusing on the good instead of harping on the bad.
Becoming a thankful person increases the chances of more things to be thankful for to come in to your life.
So many thought leaders stand by this belief, that becoming thankful and living a life of gratitude can truly make a difference in your life, in your family’s life.
Therefore, I made it a point to teach my children this… to be thankful, to have a mindset of gratitude, to express their gratitude and truly feel it.
The activity that we do on a consistent basis to exercise being grateful and to see people, places and things around us and trained their minds to be in a state of abundance is a Thankful Prayer.
Journey to Thankfulness
Night Thankful Prayer
I started doing thankful prayers with my girls as soon as they could comprehend what I was saying.
This allows my girls to think about the great things that happened that day, even little things like no potty accidents for the day or everyone ate all their dinner.
I would do it, every night before bed. I would say my thankful prayer.
“Mommy is thankful for a fun day with my girls.”
“Mommy is thankful for my girls eating all their food”
“Mommy is thankful for your good health”
“Mommy is thankful for daddy”
“Mommy is thankful for having my girls in my life” (i would say their names)
“Mommy is thankful for this home we live in, the beautiful room and bed we have and the tv we get have on while we are sleeping”
I say perhaps 5-8 different thankful prayers that acknowledge all the great things, people and places we were able to do and see that day.
Eventually, as they would learn how to string together statements and understand sentences, i would ask them to do this before we go to bed. I don’t force them, i kindly ask them, “lets do a thankful prayer, who wants to go first?”
If one day, no one wants to go first, or no one wants to say anything.
I say my thankful prayer… eventually one of them will want to get their thankful prayers out because I reminded them of all the fun things they did that day and that they have plenty to be thankful for.
It’s all about exercising thankfulness even if they don’t want to.
That it is one of the things we do as a family and a household. Before we go to bed, we do a thankful prayer.
On days i am just completely out of it and don’t feel like being in this long prayer of thankfulness, I will tell them that i am thankful for them in my life and kiss them goodnight.
Let’s face it, there will be days like this, where mommy had a bad day, or my eyes are so heavy that i cant do an entire thankful prayer. But still say at least one thing to them, i say “I am thankful for you in my life, i love you, goodnight.”
Morning Thankful Prayer
A Morning Thankful Prayer is similar to the Pm Thankful Prayer, but instead… we do this in the morning, before we start the day.
The point is to allow your toddlers to visualize a great day, give them the opportunity to see great things happening for them today.
To start, when they wake up, i would say something simple like:
“Mommy is thankful for my girls and their good sleep”
“Mommy is thankful for an exciting day ahead”
“Mommy is thankful for the delicious breakfast for us to eat”
“Mommy is thankful for the activities planned for us today”
“Mommy is thankful for the beautiful sun shining down our house to keep us warm”
This way, it starts their day with a positive mindset, they start looking for things to be thankful for, so they can out-thank me in our next thankful prayer.
Conclusion
Our children is seciptiable to everything we teach them, our day to day activities, all of our responses to the people around us, they are keen to the way we handle life, stressful moments, they even recognize how we discipline them or the lack thereof.
Why not take some time to teach them positivity, teach them to have a mindset of thankfulness.
Motherhood is chaotic, we become busy, get caught up in our schedules and getting things done, but this is extremely easy to do, its just a simple conversation with our kids before and after bed.
Teach your child to see the good in their day, teach them to become thankful and to be in gratitude.
It goes a long way and perhaps this one lesson can alter the course of their lives, that it will lead them to have abundance and wealth, that it will attract positive people and opportunities
Happy thankfulness and I hope everyone has an amazing Thanksgiving!!
Check out my Podcast on Thanksgiving, how gratitude shows up in all areas in our lives.
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Your Mommy Blogger,
Maria