As many of you know, my husband and I are big on making sure our kids help contribute to our family, and know that having a good life means helping the family thrive. We don’t want them to view money as endless, and we want them to understand how to be smart with their choices, but we also want them to know that there is so much to be grateful for — and we have so much!
Recently, I had a couple of y’all ask about what we’ve done to start teaching our kids responsibility and gratitude since all our kids are still under 5. I thought I’d share a bit more about what we do and how we do it, and hopefully give you some things you can use with your own kiddos!
All things work
The first thing we do is talk about work.
Not in a morose way. And we definitely don’t like to complain about work around the kids – and for the most part, Chance & I both really like what we do. Instead, we talk to them about how it’s our jobs that allow us to live in a nice place and have nice things, good clothes, and great food to eat.
We teach them that a good work ethic is a major key to abundant finances. We want them to grow up knowing that money isn’t something that’s just handed over to them — abundance and wealth are things you need to cultivate through hard work. But when you do that, creating wealth becomes much more simple.
Always be grateful
Second, we teach them to have gratitude.
Y’all, I cannot stress this enough! Teaching the kids to be thankful for all of the nice things they have, like toys and clothes, is a game-changer.
The thing is, it’s not about their gratitude toward us. We’re doing our job as parents and providing for them. Instead, it’s about their greater gratitude for their privilege in life. Recognizing that will not only help them to appreciate what they do have, even once they’ve grown and are buying things for themselves, but it will also teach them to give back.
Give back to the family
And lastly, we talk to them about how they can contribute to the family’s abundance overall.
Ever since they were able to communicate and understand, we’ve asked them to contribute to the overall family life in a way that’s appropriate for them.
This includes things like:
Being respectful of their books or toys, and not touching them with dirty hands or ripping out pages.
- Helping carry groceries in from the car.
- Setting the table for dinner.
- Doing well in school.
Cultivating gratitude and having an abundance mindset are two of the things that are most important to me when it comes to setting my kids up for successful adult life. I want to make sure that they understand the value of money and don’t become wasteful of it, while also making sure they know that wealth and abundance are completely possible for them.
I would love to hear some things that you might do to give your kids an abundance mindset! You can DM me on Instagram @messy_wonderful!
Note: In an effort to deliver more frequent, quality content you need, we’ll be doing things a little more messy at the Messy Wonderful podcast. Tune in to the quick episode before this one to hear about our changes!
