Being thankful is something that we want to instill in children from such an early age, always telling them to ‘say thank you’, even before they learn the meaning of the word they may say it, purely because it is expected of them. Is it more that we need to explain why we ask children to be thankful so they can truly learn the meaning of appreciation and gratitude?

As a parent, if you want your child to develop a healthy sense of emotional resilience to all the various, mounting pressures there are on children each day, model mindful behaviour yourself. Your child will observe the way you deal with stress, anger, happiness, etc., all of which you have the ability to positively model.