Thankfulness
My husband is a mechanic, and in his line of work he meets all kinds of different people, because everybody needs their car worked on at one time or another. There are at least two kinds of people, the thankful and the unthankful.
My husband has a customer from out of state who comes by for Justin to look at his van during those times when he is in town visiting friends. Justin will stop everything he is doing just to help him, because this man’s heart runs over with thankfulness. But there are other customers who come in that, no matter much how Justin goes out of his way to help them, they never think to say, “thank you,” and they never act like they appreciated what he has just done for them. They will often come up with one thing or another that they think he is doing wrong, even though they might not know anything about cars. Their unthankful attitude portrays their unhappiness with life. Justin really does not care to do business with them at all; it just isn’t worth the hassle.
Now, I know we should do our best for everyone, whether they are thankful or not. But, without forethought, we have a tendency to more readily respond to a thankful person. How would you feel if you gave a present to your best friend and she looked at you with a grimace and said, “Thank you, but I don’t need this blouse, besides I only wear name brands”? Yes, she did say the words “thank you,” but her attitude was one of ungratefulness. Would you readily go out and spend another thirty dollars on her, hoping she will like the gift this time?
When does thankfulness start? You, as a parent, teach your child to say, “thank you,” and everyone thinks it is so cute. But are you teaching them to be thankful as well? Thankfulness is more caught than taught. It comes from the heart, not the will, and not from good habits. Thankfulness is opposed to whining and griping; a child can’t do both. So, a thankful child is a happy child. If a mother is joyful, the child will be as well. If the mother is unthankful, she will never teach her children to be thankful, no matter what they say in response to a gift.
Most of the time, when I observe children with bad attitudes and bad actions, it is due to their not being thankful for what others are doing for them. Gracie, my little two-year-old, is thankful about everything. If I get up in the middle of the night to take her to the bathroom, afterward when she is lying on my shoulder, barely awake but kissing me, she says over and over again; “Thank you, Mama, thank you, Mama.” They are not just words to her, but a part of her heart, a part of who she is. At mealtime, she is always thankful for the food I put in front of her. We expect her to be thankful for the time I spent making it.
