It's that time in the calendar from Thanksgiving to January 1 that we become "holiday obsessed." Thanksgiving leads to Christmas and Hanukkah and then takes us to New Year's Day. The stores are filled with shoppers. Dining room tables are laden with turkeys, ham, countless vegetables, and rolls. Multiple cakes, pies, and homemade cookies give the house a special seasonal scent. As we look around our homes and communities, we cannot help but feel a true sense of thankfulness.

It should not take a series of holidays to be mindful of the importance of thankfulness in our lives. Among the first words we teach our children are "please" and "thank you." While we are teaching them appropriate manners, we are beginning the process of thankfulness. As they get older and learn to read and write, children should be introduced to the writing of thank-you notes. These can be quite simple for young children. They can include a drawing from the child and a message of thanks for a gift from a relative or special friend. Not only will the recipient of the card be very thankful, but the sender will be focused on why they were thankful for the gift.

My mother was known throughout her life as a person who shared her thankfulness with others. Each year she selected one person for her Christmas Letter. She picked out a person she felt needed to be thanked for what my mother had seen in their lives. She was very specific and loving in what had impacted her. She wrote to all types of people for many different reasons. They often called or wrote her back, expressing what an unexpected impact it had on their lives. Sometimes her letter had arrived at just the time it was most needed. When my mother died, several of those people sent her letters to them back to me with their special thanks for her life.

There is so much discussion about mental health issues in children today. They need to be taught to focus on their thankfulness. One way to develop thankfulness in children is to start off each morning with everyone sharing three things or people for whom they are thankful. This helps the whole family begin the day in a positive mood. If a child has a negative experience at school, try to have them pick out at least one positive person or experience for which they are thankful. Parents, grandparents, teachers, and coaches all bear the responsibility of serving as models of thankfulness.
Yes, we are in the season of thankfulness, but with a little practice each day, we can carry it throughout the whole year. What a gift that would be for our children!