Positive parenting uses gratitude

I am no expert on positive parenting, learning as I go and making mistakes along the way. I do believe however that by using gratitude with kids encourages them to behave. We spent a fabulous day at Edinburgh Zoo, and saw the Giant Pandas, and the kids were really well behaved. On the way home my wife and I thanked them for being so good and making it a really enjoyable day. Now there are probably people who would think this is soft. For me however, I feel it reinforces the benefits of good behaviour in the minds of kids. This is especially important when circumstances in their lives are changing. When a child starts school the first teacher they have is so important to the success of their school career. This upset can manifest itself in interesting and unusual ways. So reinforcing good behaviour through gratitude can be part of a way of reassuring them that other things in their lives are going to remain unchanged. Gratitude can reassure them about your relationship with them and also teach them that gratitude goes both ways.