As a parent, one of the most heartbreaking things to hear your child say is “no one likes me.”
You work hard in their formative years to teach your children to socialize, be kind and share so they can make friends during school and create the important relationships that will last into their future.
We all know that volunteering can be good for the soul, but our busy lifestyles can make it easy to say, “I just don’t have the time.”
Between work, school, extracurricular activities, cleaning the house, keeping the kids fed and trying to carve out some quality family time, volunteering can fall to the bottom of the priority list. One solution can be combining your family time with volunteering at a local organization. Donating your time to others in need teaches children a plethora of important skills and life lessons.
“Mom, was this cracker ever alive?”
It occurred to me at that moment - when we were sitting around the lunch table and my then 6-year-old daughter asked me this question - that perhaps I could do a better job teaching my kids where their food comes from.
We’ve all said it, or at the very least thought it. In a moment of frustration and disappointment, when we’re in absolute awe as to why our kids aren’t showing appreciation for all that’s being done for or given to them.
But being grateful is not innate. And it most definitely isn’t easy for adults, let alone our little ones. Feeling gratitude requires children to use a variety of complex social emotional skills that need to be taught through ongoing modeling and practice. The kicker? When they do start to feel and understand what it means to be grateful, the benefits can be huge.
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