Christmas season has always been about giving and receiving gifts for kids. It is the time when most children experience new things that come from the presents they receive from family and friends.
These days, children have more access to different advertisements shown by various types of media that give them the notion that Christmas is all about presents. Because of that, parents are having a hard time explaining to their kids how to be grateful and appreciate all things, big and small, in a different way.
According to the book "Teaching Happiness and Innovation", the content of which is based on their research towards children's attitude, consumerism is a big issue for parents to teach their kids on how to appreciate things and have a sense of contentment.
Children's happiness, nowadays, relies so much on the comparison of what is new from old and what is the best from good.
Most kids, when they ask something from their parents, don't normally settle for less; they will always insist of getting the newest and the best material, as relayed by a report from Troy Media.
Meanwhile in a video interview with Marti Erickson, PH. D. and the host of the show "Mom Enough", she said that kids must learn gratitude at a very young age.
Learning should not stop by just saying please and thank you. She added that parents must set an example to their kids by expressing gratitude to all things that you have.
Little things of showing gratitude like writing "thank you" notes to people and letting kids see you do that will have a big impact in their learning of showing appreciation.
Erickson cited that talking to kids about their daily life and ask what happened to them during the day that they should be thankful for is one of the steps on how to teach your kids gratitude.
Your kids may not like it after a few attempts to speak with them about their day, but if you make it a habit, they may start doing the things you teach them to do. It all starts with little conversation with them in a daily basis.
She also added that setting a limit to kids and not giving in to all the things that they want will help them grow up to be more appreciative of the things around them.
Parents must show to their kids that all things have value for them to be more thankful of what they got.
