Teaching Kids Gratitude, the Healthy Attitude

Photo by Layla Mazdyasni

Lately, I’ve been thinking about all the things in my life I am grateful for.  The unique privilege that is my calling – to teach mothers and daughters about puberty, birth and conception, and to serve my community as a pediatrician.

A recent thank you note I received meant a great deal to me, and I’d like to share it with you. I sent one of my products, ‘My First Period Kit,’ to Michelle Obama at the White House (in a long-shot hope for her support!) and received the note below in return. I was utterly touched!

Ok, ok…. so this is a generic ‘thank you’ note. Nevertheless, my gift was received, and I was thrilled, and most grateful, to be acknowledged with a response.

Teaching your kids gratitude by example is my challenge to you this month. The first step, of course, is to feel grateful yourself! Take a few moments this week to take stock of all the things in your life you can be grateful for – I know I don’t have to tell you health and family are bound to be high on the list.

Once you’ve taken stock for yourself, involve your kids. Talk to them about what gratitude means, what they can be thankful for and how they can show gratitude to others or just feel the feeling of gratitude for themselves.

An easy opportunity to help your kids identify things they are grateful for happens around the dinner table. Let each child or family member have a chance to say one or two things they were grateful for that day. By making this a daily or a weekly exercise, you’ll find more and more small things, which you can be appreciative of. Imagine! What a wonderful attitude to cultivate in your young ones!

Happy parenting, and a grateful, healthy April to you all.

Founder of Healthy Chats, Dr. Chrystal de Freitas is a pediatrician, author and mother of three children who has a special interest in health education. She completed her pediatric training at the University of Washington, in Seattle, WA, and has been in private practice for 22 years. She practiced with North County Health Services in Encinitas, for 6 years. In 2004, Dr. de Freitas opened her solo private practice of pediatrics, Carmel Valley Pediatrics in San Diego, CA.