Did you know that gratitude can improve you sleep? It’s true, when you think about what you are grateful for before you drift off to dreamland there is greater subjective sleep quality, sleep duration, and less sleep latency (how long it takes to fall asleep) and daytime dysfunction (Wood et al, 2008). Most people don’t need to see the research to believe this one, but still how can we instill gratitude to our kids?
4 ways to teach gratitude to your children
Model Gratitude:
We all know that children are watching our every move right? Teaching gratitude is no different. Before we even ask our kids to be grateful for others it is important that they see us being grateful too. We try our best to say thank you VERY often! This can be as simple as thanking the check out person at target (or the order pickup deliverer…I really wish this was a thing when I had young babies) or the spouse who made dinner that night. Once our kids see us doing this then it will be easier to implement in their world too!
Acts of Service
As your children get older start to expose them to acts of service. Around the holidays especially there often are more options to help those within your community. There are MANY options here, but I urge you to follow your passion. If you are a church goer then consider signing up for a food packing event they are having or adopt a family to get gifts for. If you have young kids then think about what their physical abilities are, maybe they can’t serve Thanksgiving dinner at the homeless shelter yet, but they can carry a can into the food pantry!
Family Contributions
Contributing to the family will instill a sense of purpose and belonging for children. But sometimes when kids help out it creates more work for parents! That is why the wheel of contributions can help children learn life skills, develop social interest, and feel capable by helping out at home. The easiest thing to do is make a wheel ( or grab a wheel off Amazon here) and put contributions that are easy for your child to do. For a 2-3 year old consider tasks such as tidying the shoes or spraying the table. For an older child have them empty the dishwasher or do laundry. It’s important for kids to see that everyone in the house contributing to build that sense of belonging and that we all are grateful that we have each other to help keep the house a float!
Making Gratitude a Ritual
It can be easy to forget to do something when it is a ritual or something you do everyday. Therefore try to habit stack (add on gratitude to something you already do). Your child’s brain built a strong network of neurons to support their current behaviors such as understanding their bedtime routine. The more they do something, the stronger and more efficient the connection becomes.
For example you could add in gratitude to a part of your child’s bedtime routine. Tonight after reading books try saying one thing you are grateful for and then have your child say one thing they are grateful for. Before you know it this will be a daily ritual that can help everyone sleep a little better!
I hope this teaches you a few small things that can help implement acts of gratitude into your day not only around Thanksgiving, but year round.
References:
Clear, J. (n.d.). Habit Stacking: How to Build New Habits by Taking Advantage of Old Ones. James Clear. https://jamesclear.com/habit-stacking
Wood AM, Joseph S, Lloyd J, Atkins S. Gratitude influences sleep through the mechanism of pre-sleep cognitions. J Psychosom Res. 2009 Jan;66(1):43-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2008.09.002. Epub 2008 Nov 22. PMID: 19073292.
Positive Discipline. (n.d.). Family Chores. Positive Discipline. https://www.positivediscipline.com/articles/family-chores
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