Our family gratitude journal, Ending the day in a positive way | Mum In The Madhouse

Our family gratitude journal, Ending the day in a positive way

how to encourage gratitude in kids

I used to be a glass half empty girl, but when I had postnatal depression after Mini was born I was lucky enough to have some fantastic treatment and part of that was cognitive behavioral therapy and I learned how to find joy in the little things.  One of the most transformational parts for me was ending the day with three positive things.

Maxi is very much like I used to be and see the negative a lot, so we decided as a family to start a gratitude journal as a family.  I want to encourage him to see the good in everyday and to stop looking at the negative and to start to appreciate more.

I want my children to become sensitive to the feelings of others,  to develop empathy and other life skills and I feel that gratitude is essential.  This is even more important as Maxi is starting to feel entitled to certain things and becoming a spoilt child.

I need to teach them to look outside of themselves and understand that we do things for them as do other people.  I want them to develop perspective.

Our Family Gratitude Journal

Family Gratitude Journal

We decided one way to do this was to establish a tradition of a family gratitude journal and to set a good example for the boys.

Together we made a journal that we use for recording three things we are each grateful for.

Each evening before bed we sit down together and discuss those three things each that we are grateful for.

We take turns in writing them down in a journal that we made.

Mini is a natural and finds lots of things to be grateful for amd that have made him happy.

Maxi finds it more challenging, but we are slowly learning together how to turn each of those frowns upside down.

I think that it is a really positive way to end the day.  It means that the last things they are thinking of before bed are good thoughts.

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