How to Raise Grateful Children and all about Gratitude!

They call themselves the Mom-Preneurs and they are the creative team behind a new Thanksgiving craze. They have created a "Turkey on the Table" kit that comes with a turkey (not flesh and blood), double-sided feathers that are replacable, a marker, and a storybook on "how to make the most of your bird" that is sure to spark creativity and gratitude. Of course, when I read the article, I immediate converted the methods to be used all year long. We know that during the holidays it is easy to get caught up in gifts and forget the reason for the season. So these bright moms created a way to make gratitude the focus. They wanted to make sure their collective five kids grew up realizing how fortunate they are. They approached Thanksgiving with each child writing something he/she was grateful for on one of the blank turkey tail feathers. (This could be a picture, a word, or a story.) Then he stuck the feather on the bird. By Thanksgiving, the turkey was fully dressed and made a fine table decoration. These gals were inventive enough to create kits that were sold at 1600 stores including Bed Bath & Beyond. And, even more important, their children were excited to write gratitudes each day. Now, if we take this concept a bit further we can come up with other ways to include gratitude in our day. You can have a gratitude jar and each time your child demonstrates he is grateful, you put a marble in the jar and when the jar is full, take him out for a treat. And you can come up with others ways to accomplish the same purpose. What if we practice gratitude all the time? The reason I loved the idea of teaching thankfulness to children is that gratitude is a HIGH spiritual energy and when we express and FEEL it, we attract more of the things for which we are grateful. Gratitude is a magnetic force and can be used for GOOD!! If you listen to people closely, you notice that many have "victim" stories. I am always amazed at how they choose to express how bad things are when we live in such an abundant world. ( I had the flu; my son/daughter lost his/her job; My plumbing needs to be fixed; I slipped and fell.) Of course, when they do this, they lower their energy and if you get involved with their stories, you lower yours as well. Thus consider your choices - raise your energy to experience a better life and more blessings or lower your energy to live in upset and fear. That choice should make it clear! Gratitude is the way!! Jean Walters is best selling amazon.com author: Set yourself Free: Live the Life YOU were meant to Live! and Be Outrageous: Do the Impossible - Others have and you can too! You can reach her for Akashic Readings or Coaching at jean@spiritualtransformation.com