How do we handle the holiday “gimmies,” when kids claim to NEED everything on their gift list? What’s the best way to cultivate a practice of gratitude (and does it have to involve a craft?)? How can we include kids in meaningful giving during the holidays – and all year round?
These are big questions and we’re taking them on in Episode 76 of The Mom Hour. Join Meagan and Sarah for a thoughtful, no-judgment conversation on raising kids to be thankful (even when they still REALLY want that toy…).
Links we mentioned (or should have) in Episode 76
- How we help curb the ‘I want that!’s during the holidays (Tsh Oxenreider for The Art of Simple)
- 20 Gratitude Activities for Kids (more than half of which do NOT require crafting/making/projects) (Rebecca Eanes for positive-parents.org)
- A Life Like Mine: How Children Live Around the World (DK Children & UNICEF, via Amazon)
- The Opposite of Spoiled: Raising Kids Who Are Grounded, Generous, and Smart About Money (Ron Lieber, via Amazon)
- Playmobil Advent Calendar Playset (via Amazon)
Our 2015 holiday-related episodes, for your convenience:
- Gifts That Go The Distance (Ep28)
- Moms Deserve a Magical Holiday, Too (Ep30)
- Great Gifts for Moms (Ep32)
Love, love, loved this episode! Listened to it before church, where they announced that they are assembling ‘Helping Boxes’ to help the men and women in our town who are often looking for food and money. What a great way to get the kids involved in ‘giving back’ in a way that isn’t focused on buying ‘stuff’. Your episode was soo spot on! Thank you. <3
Oh, we’re so glad, Angie! Thanks for taking the time to comment! It means so much. Happy Thanksgiving!
We do the same with the catalogs! It’s a great activity for my 3 & 5 year old to do while I’m making dinner. I love the idea of rephrasing it from “I want” to “I like”. Thanks!
Hi Meagan and Sarah! I’m a newer listener and have been listening to your shows in order. I just listened to this one on Greed and Gratitude on my way in to work this morning, and I found it to be really helpful. I’m always thinking about how I can help to teach my two boys (7 and 4) about these important traits! I will be looking for the A Life Like Mine book soon, and I also wanted to recommend a terrific book from Barefoot Books called The Barefoot Book of Children (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YlFsle22wg). I am an Ambassador for Barefoot Books, which is a wonderful children’s publishing company that encourages discovery, compassion, creativity and global awareness through a variety of products (books, games, puzzles, stickers, puppets, etc.). Barefoot Book of Children is super for kids ages 3-10, and it really depicts kids of a wide range of shapes, sizes, races, abilities and lifestyles from countries and cultures all over the world. I’ve loved the conversations that have been started with my kids about gratitude and recognition of all that we have when we’ve read the book, so I thought I’d share – even if it is more than a year late!! 🙂 (http://store.barefootbooks.com/the-barefoot-book-of-children.html/?bf_affiliate_code=000-29me)