"What do you say?" I ask my son as he takes the cookie from the waitress.
"Thank you!" he says with his silly four year old grin.
I pat him on the shoulder with an approving look and secretly feel proud of myself that I'm raising such polite children. Even my one-year-old toddler says something slightly resembling those two words although nobody outside our immediate family would be able to decipher it.
I really swell with pride when our oldest, clearly and loudly responds, "Thank you" on his own accord. I must really be doing this mothering thing right! After all, every parent includes gratefulness in the list of character qualities they want their children to develop by 18 years old.
As we head into another busy holiday season, though, I wonder if we're missing the mark with this thing called gratefulness. How can we cultivate this attitude in even our smallest children?
To read the rest of this post, visit Emily Jensen, my writing home for today....
"Thank you!" he says with his silly four year old grin.
I pat him on the shoulder with an approving look and secretly feel proud of myself that I'm raising such polite children. Even my one-year-old toddler says something slightly resembling those two words although nobody outside our immediate family would be able to decipher it.
I really swell with pride when our oldest, clearly and loudly responds, "Thank you" on his own accord. I must really be doing this mothering thing right! After all, every parent includes gratefulness in the list of character qualities they want their children to develop by 18 years old.
As we head into another busy holiday season, though, I wonder if we're missing the mark with this thing called gratefulness. How can we cultivate this attitude in even our smallest children?
To read the rest of this post, visit Emily Jensen, my writing home for today....