Gratitude is one of the essentials for us to receive the most out of life. I love watching my children and their spouses teach our precious grandchildren about gratitude. Each one may go about it a little differently, however each do it well.

As parents of young children sometimes you can think they will never learn to remember to say thank you without you asking them to. Trust me, they eventually do remember, I used to feel the same way. I can remember thinking I will have to be asking them forever before they learn this lesson of gratitude.

“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgiving, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.”

– William Arthur Ward.

I am very blessed to honestly be able to say that our four adult children know how to be grateful and express that gratitude even though at times as children I thought they would never get it. I often find my grandchildren seem to say thank you more when Rob and I are minding them than what they do when the parents are around. It’s a strange thing that, often the best behaviour comes forth when Mum and Dad aren’t around.

We see that at Little Miracles at times, children will be having a great day and as soon as they see their parents come to pick them up, they begin to cry or just be a bit destructive. What is that?! Who knows?!

I think the whole attitude of gratitude is another thing that is caught more than taught. I know I say this a lot about parenting but it is so true and been proven over and over again. Our children and grandchildren follow our lead and sometimes a little too much for our liking.

If they see us being grateful, if they experience us being grateful to them and for them, they are much more likely to grow into grateful adults. When as adults we live a life of gratitude our children pick that up from us and have an attitude of gratitude. They listen to every word we say and they are the best mimics I know. When we are grateful for our workplace and the people we work with, we are setting our children up to get the most out of their careers.

When we treat others with gratitude like our own parents or friends, we train our children up to in turn treat us and others with an attitude of gratitude and we receive the blessing. When we teach our children and grandchildren how to be grateful, we prepare them for a life of blessing. 

They will have more friends as people like to be around grateful people, those who show no gratitude are very selfish and hard to do life with. Let’s all be people of gratitude, let’s live a full life and make others feel valued and appreciated by living a life of gratitude and see our children live remarkable lives because of it.

Blessings, 

Susanna. 

#littlemiraclescommunity