Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Amelia's avatar

So, I got into the habit of always thanking my husband for making dinner (I read, years and years before I even met him, that the secret to a happy marriage was to notice and acknowledge the things your partner did), and when my son started talking one of the first things he did was always thanked daddy for dinner. It was so surprising the first time that I was just in shock! Then he did it over and over again, multiple times every dinner, lol. I love the idea of talking kids through what went into a gift or kind gesture. It's such a good idea.

Expand full comment
Emma KS's avatar

Actual lol at asking Santa for a hotel! I love it. I teach intro psych and developmental psych to college students, and just a few weeks ago I was talking about how there are all these studies of gratitude and how it increases feelings of well-being. It sounds like this sort of squishy and nebulous concept, but it's really interesting to think about how people have quantified it and used it as a variable in some of these studies. Also I really liked the point about sensitivity to kids' needs. This is also something I try to impress upon my students when I teach them about the development of attachment -- the key variable is sensitivity, rather than any particular behavior on the parents' part, because what one kid needs is different from another kid. Basically this post made me nerd out, is what I'm saying. :D

Expand full comment
17 more comments...

No posts