Being Grateful

It sure is hard showing young children how to be grateful.  Especially when they constantly see you getting them everything they need and provide for them.  I struggled with this concept before Christmas time when I saw how spoiled my children were becoming with the presents.  Also the fact that Audrey's Christmas list continued to get ten feet long!  Seriously we would go into the store and she would see something she needed and say, "Oh, I better put that on my Christmas list!"  She still is putting things on her Christmas list, even though her birthday is July.  The scary thing is I think she believes she will be getting everything on her list, so I knew I needed to intervene.

I have read books, articles, and attended trainings on how to help my child's behavior improve.  But I have never found one method that is the end all be all for my family's lifestyle, so I always combined ideas that I know will work for my kiddos and I give them a try.  There was an article out there on Facebook awhile back talking about children being ungrateful and earning things that they took for granted, and it really made an impression on me.  I came to the conclusion that I was going to reward my children for simple things, like a drama free bedtime or cleaning up after themselves.  This is kinda out there because well kids should just do these things, however at a young age they need lots of practice and what better way to help them than with some positive reinforcement.  When I catch my kiddos doing these things I give them a ticket.  They then have the choice to use the ticket instantly or save it for later.  The ticket is either 10 minutes on the iPad or tv time or can be used as $0.50.  Since my children love television and the iPad, this is what the tickets are mainly used for.  They want to watch a Bubble Guppy show, they will both share the cost of watching a show and give me two tickets.

I was a little skeptical that this was going to work, but it certainly has and I find that we are all a little more happier in the house.  Now Audrey still asks for things and gets upset when she does not get her way, but when explained she hasn't earned something, she is beginning to understand that connection.  I try not to reward for the same things daily, as I noticed that Audrey will key into those things and try to do them over so she can earn extra tickets.  Smart kid, but little does she know she is conditioned to do the things without tickets now...hehe.

So maybe I will shoot myself in the foot for this approach with my kiddos, but it is working for now and even though we are still a little materialistic, at least we are showing some gratitude and even sharing is becoming as natural as it can for a 20 month old and a 3 1/2 year old.