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.
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.
What you’ve done is great for your family, nothing better than family talks about everything and share their good and bad moments.
OOh now this is a fab idea, I hope it gives you and brings you some smiles in years to come x
This is great, I saw similar on another blog recently. I must try the 3 positive things a day thing as sometimes struggle with my pnd x
This is brilliant, such a great idea to get them thinking about this from early on.
What a lovely idea! Better than the list of positives on Facebook which is actually driving me potty lol
I think it’s so lovely that you’re encouraging empathy and gratitude in your boys, hopefully this is something they’ll take with them through life. It’s one of the down sides of blogging that whilst our children do get a lot more stuff and great experiences than they would do otherwise, the danger is that they think that’s normal and don’t really appreciate it. So I think anything we can do to build a sense of gratitude and appreciation for what life has given us is really important.
What a wonderful idea, will have a look at this for my family too
What a wonderful idea! I may give this a go with my family! I am suffering with depression at the moment and I think this would really help me too!
This is a great idea. I try to get D to tell me what his best bit of the day is which is similar I guess. He finds this quite hard some days.
This post inspires me 🙂
A fabulous idea. We should all be greatful for the simple things in life and realise others are not as fortunate as us.
What a lovely way to end the day Jen – and it must set up waking up the following morning with a good mental atittude too
What a great idea, its amazing the different the little things can make – I might need to start one myself 🙂 x
I think this is a fabulous idea and will have to try this with mine!
I really like this. Children really need to appreciate what they have and count their blessings especially in the material world we live in. So important to inculcate the correct values.
A really lovely idea. We talk about the nice things that have happened that day each night but would be nice to keep it in a journal as well to look back on bad days x
This is a great idea. I can be very negative and I really don’t want that to rub off on my children.x
I love this idea! I’m always having to remind Munch to be a little more grateful. Something like this would really work for her. Thank you for the inspiration!
I think that this is a great idea and we might start something similar once they have gone back to school!
I love this idea. Thanks for sharing
I LOVE this. At a time when my 15yr old son is becoming awful… practically holding his hand out every time he makes plans to go out. And if I don’t give him enough he moans. I can’t stand it and it’s hurtful. I’m definitely going to try and talk about this with him, love the wording on the stickers x