Gratitude Tantrums

Today started out with Christopher waking up on the wrong side of the bed. Now, I know it's hard to think of Christopher in a bad mood, and normally you would be right. He is completely a morning person just like I am but for some reason, this morning was just not his morning. He was grumpy. He was sulking. So I looked at him and was about to discuss his mood and the need for a change when I remembered Pastor Chris's message from yesterday and I thought a gratitude tantrum was in order. So I explained to him what we were going to do. I would name something I was thankful for and then he would name something and then it would be my turn again, and so on. He wasn't really excited about the idea but he did it anyway. The first thing he said, he was thankful for his dad. He said it grudgingly, but he was participating and that's the first step. When it came to his turn again, he said he was thanful for his home. We continued from there and with every turn he took, his countenance improved, his body language improved and before you know it he was going on and on about all the things he was thankful for and excited to be doing it. He was laughing and giggling and having a great time with our gratitude tantrum.

What could have been a rotten day or at least a difficult one, turned out to be great. He got all of his schoolwork finished and had a fantastic attitude about it and he has been in a great mood all day.

We had a talk later in the day about how the day went and how the day could have gone and how much better it was with an attitude of gratitude. Then we added something to our prayer at dinner. We went around the table and told of one thing we are grateful for. That may be a new tradition in our house.

Today, I'm thankful for my church and my pastor who cares enough about us to challenge us.