Chilly and holiday-filled November is the perfect opportunity to bring gratitude to our hearts and to our children. Sometimes, especially with littles, the influx of germs and sickness, or holiday drama, it is too easy to forget being thankful when we are caught up in the day to day.
Here are some tips and tricks to incorporate thankfulness and gratitude for the whole family:
- Begin and end with gratitude: Snag our handy and beautiful Be Still Journal and begin and end your day in prayer and thanksgiving to the God who gave us all.
- Make a “gratitude” banner. Each day, have children write one thing or person that they are grateful for. Hang the banner by the dinner table or the mantle to visibly see the blessings in your lives.
- Put a basket of family members’ and friends’ names where you pray together. Each time you gather to pray, have the children pull a name from the basket and thank God for that person in your life by name.
- Send a handwritten note to someone that you haven’t spoken with in awhile. Tell them why you are thankful for them and that you are praying for them. Use our sweet spiritual bouquets to offer a Mass, Rosary, or other sacrifice for that person in gratitude.
- Lastly, especially for those of us with really little humans, be an example of how we can thank God throughout the day with short, ejaculatory prayers such as “Thank you God for our groceries!” or “Thank you God for this beautiful day!”
When our hearts are turned towards God in gratitude and thankfulness, we set the stage for our children to follow along.
