Fostering Gratitude At Thanksgiving And Beyond

Psychologists have studied gratitude as its related to mental health.  People who are in the habit of recognizing things they are grateful for are less depressed.  In fact, people who are depressed can sometimes be trained in the practice of gratitude, with the result being an improvement in mood.  

It may not always come easy, but it's so worth it to try to make a conscious effort to be grateful.  And it's important to foster a sense of gratitude in our children.  In my family, we frequently work in my favorite conversation starter, "What are you grateful for today?" at family meals.  For some other ideas about gratitude at the dinner table, see my previous blog post on the topic.

I haven't decided what we'll do this Thanksgiving, but at previous Thanksgivings we have done some decorative craft projects in which we ask each person at our gathering to write down something they are thankful for. One year we each wrote on a feather made out of construction paper for our "turkey."  Last year we decorated the dining room wall with strips of paper declaring our thankfulness.  Unfortunately, removing those strips also removed paint from the wall - so we won't be doing that again!  If any of you have creative ideas for a thankful Thanksgiving activity, I'd love to hear them and share them with the rest of my readers.

But whatever you do, make it a joyful experience.  Practicing gratitude loses some of its shine if it's done as a guilt-inducing activity.  So instead of scolding, "you should be grateful for all that you have," why not encourage and model.  When you practice gratitude it becomes a habit.  For some ideas on how to make gratitude practice a routine in your family, check out this article from one of my favorite blogs, Half Full: Science for Raising Happy Kids.