Gratitude-Coal for your Family Train

Taken for Granted or Part of a Team? How do you know which one your family fits? Can it be both? I'm not sure, I do believe I have felt both ways in my house. You can bet though that instead of doing what most women do, I open my mouth. I don't get nasty (most of the time) but I spell it out for my house full of men. I guess I never was one of those women that could huff and puff but keep doing what their doing while they guy wonders what her problem is. "If he loved me he would know". Yeah, right. We can't get them to take out the trash but we want them to learn to read minds. And what about the guy? Does he do and do without recognition? Does he ask you specific questions like "how did you like the dinner I prepared for you?" Us women say "well, why should I praise him for every day things!?" If you don't, he doesn't do it. If you do, he will do it again without you asking. The same thing works for you too! If he praises the fact that you got his favorite jeans washed and ready, you can praise the fact that he got the milk on his way home. Gratitude for the simple things, it is the TRUE coal on your family train. You can keep fanning the fires with false gratitude to shut the whining up, but your won't get nearly as far.

This works for kids too. My oldest was laid back, didn't do much because he didn't have to. The second oldest pretty much took over command. (I know the feeling) Instead of down grading the oldest for not doing enough, or making the second feel like he took over, we (as parents) decided to praise him for things he DID do. Now I can say, within a relatively short period, we can count on the older one to pretty much take over. His laid back personality is still there, but he uses it to stay calm and add some heart to hard situations. The second child has less responsibility, less on his shoulders and can enjoy learning to think with his heart more instead of his head. Using praise to allow for growth helped them BOTH, and also teaches the younger siblings who are watching and learning their place on this Family Team.