Gratitude
Source/Author: Mike Murphy, Headmaster
November 20, 2015
Want to do something useful and interesting with your child this Thanksgiving? Google the word Gratitude.
Admittedly, I find it ironic that many of the articles and postings point out studies that show the positive benefits one receives from expressing gratitude. Even if those studies are true, they seem to miss the reason for why expressing gratitude is a good habit of mind.
Whether it is for someone letting us merge into a different lane of traffic or for someone giving us a special gift, an offering of thanks is civil, gracious and right. Without going completely overboard, I am sure there are teachable moments every day where we can point out and model acts of gratitude.
We also have the opportunity to model how to graciously accept an expression of thanksgiving. Over the next week someone in our lives, hopefully, is going to compliment a cook for preparing a special dish. Someone is going to be thankful that someone has provided comfort, care or time. Someone is going to express appreciation for the opportunity to go to a nice event or special trip. Our children will observe how the cooks, caregivers and providers of opportunities acknowledge the gratitude.
I once worked with a third grade teacher who oozed gratitude. She would send thank you notes for the thank you notes I would send to her. It did not matter if someone was holding a door open for her or if someone was visiting her when she was ill, she expressed gratitude for every breath, every step, every smile… She made all of us better people because of her constant expressions of thanksgiving.
Happy Thanksgiving to our Shorecrest Community. Thank you for all you do to support the students, teachers and families!
Cheers!
Mike
Mike
