Gratitude

Clockwise, from the left, Sher-Bear, Big Dad, Campster, Jor Man and Huntz - all hard at work on thank yous

Christmas is over.  The tree is down, and all the trimmings put away.  Time for thank yous!

Stamps are a fun way to decorate a thank you

Do your kids moan like mine when you ask them to write a thank you note?  This year we combatted the moany-groanies with a couple of new strategies.  First of all, we all sat down at the table and wrote our thank yous together.  Modeling the behavior you wish to see in your children is always a helpful step.

Secondly, we told them that any gift without a thank you would be put away until next year.  Perhaps next year they will feel more thankful for it! Happily, no gifts were confiscated this year.

Everyone wrote and then decorated their thank yous with drawings and colorful stamps.

Campster using her spelling book while writing her thank yous

Another new strategy we implemented was the spelling book.  Each child was given a spiral bound note card book, and any time they asked how a word was spelled, we wrote it in the book with a Sharpie marker.

Lastly, we wrote up a mock letter as an example to the children.  We emphasized that this was just the start of a thank you, but it gave them an opportunity to learn parts of a letter.

Being thankful, really grateful for what we have, is a short cut to happiness.

Wish you were here!