David was given a belated birthday gift. It was a good gift, one that I was sure he would enjoy, but he refused to say thank you for it. When I was growing up, this was not an option. If you didn’t say thank you, you didn’t get the gift. But when I informed David of this fact, he simply said, OK. Feeling somewhat deflated and surprised my motivational push was ineffective, knowing that it was hours past his bedtime, I let it go, for the moment.
When Lee talked with David right before bedtime, he learned the rest of the story. Apparently, David was under the impression that one says thank you only if he actually likes the gift. And David, not having time to examine the gift to see if he liked it, wasn’t willing to say thank you yet (remember that this child does not liked to be pushed). Lee explained that we say thank you for more than the gift. We say thank you for thoughtfulness, for generosity, for unselfishness, and so on. With that knowledge, David was ready to say thank you. It helped that he ended up enjoying the gift.
Guess talking about what God says about being thankful would be a good thing. That’s what I’ll read about today.
Hi there! Reading Lee’s response to David is such a good reminder to really listen to our kids and get to the bottom of the situation, even when we don’t want to. I can’t wait to hear how your “thankful talk” goes. See you soon!
Wow! What a great reminder to be slow to speak! I think I might have missed this one and went right into a lecture on thankfulness. We are able to teach so much more effectively when we get down to the root of the child’s thoughts or actions by taking the time to listen. (slow to speak…quick to listen!)
Deidra– I go into lecture mode far too quickly too. It’s one of my many failings I’m trying to work on. That is an awesome verse for us to think about. “Swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:”