You'll Thank me Later : : a Guide to Nurturing Gratitude in our Children (And why That Matters)

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

read it. submitted by eprabhu on August 6, 2011, 2:10pm I am going to request this book.

might be helpful for older children? submitted by ginarae3 on August 4, 2018, 9:38am This book was not as helpful as I wished, but from what I read maybe my son (at age 6) is a bit young to be able to truly feel gratitude and always remember to say thank you. I was trying to find out what I have done wrong, but this book really focuses a lot on community service and thank you notes. I really don't see how that will make him thankful. Honestly, how does dragging your kid to a soup kitchen or to a litter collection brigade help make him happier and thankful for when I take him to the Hands on Museum? If it will, I don't see how, and the book didn't really mention or explain how it would either. I can see how an older kid might get it, but at 6, it seems he is just too young. As far as thank you notes go, forcing a child to do things they don't want to do will be a big chore and make the child hate doing it. It will not make the child appreciative of the gift. The issue isn't that he never says thank you, it is that I almost always need to initiate it, and sometimes he doesn't even say it loud enough for the person to hear. The book didn't explain how to get a kid to initiate or what to do when they don't. He is very shy, and although he may want to say thank you, he is afraid to. The book didn't really address this either. Now, just because my son might be too young to feel gratitude as much as I wish yet, that doesn't mean he won't one day, and I am going to use the tips from this book that I thought helpful to try to get him to be more thankful and polite: modeling being thankful and polite, not nagging about thank yous and/or shaming him, setting up my expectations beforehand (this is a big fun thing that we're taking you to and I hope you'll let us know how much you like it), and reminding him in a gentle way while tricking him into thanking us (wow, I must be the best mom ever for doing this specific awesome thing we just did - and then he says yeah! thanks mom!). So far the last one has not worked... and I've been trying it on and off for about 4 months now. So, in my opinion, this book is helpful for those who have older children who will be more able to understand that being thankful and grateful is a gift for ourselves and for others.