Raising Grateful Children in a World That Wants More

Things are so easy to access today. Books, movies, toys — everything is a click away.

When we were younger, we had to wait for a book to be released and stand in line to pick it up. We had to earn a toy, save for it, want it for long enough that we actually appreciated it when it arrived. But now, the wait is gone. And with it, sometimes, so is the gratitude.

I remember wanting a pair of Barbie roller skates as a child. They were so pretty and shiny, and priced at AED 90. My father didn’t buy it for me right away. He made me wait. He made me wait a while, to show me that being patient is not a bad thing. Eventually, after a few weeks of good behaviour, he bought it for me. With a matching set of elbow pads, knee pads and a cool helmet. How many times did I use it? Like five times in the passageway of my building. Material things bring joy for a little bit, and then as children we forget about it and move on.

Whether we're buying something brand new or picking it up second-hand, there's something in us that loves giving our children what we didn't have. A little living-through-them, a little making-up-for-what-we-missed. No judgment — I am guilty of buying my child things too quickly too.

But in a world of instant everything, how do we teach our kids to be genuinely grateful?

I think it starts with faith.

Not in a heavy, complicated way. But in small, everyday moments — pausing before a meal to say Alhamdulillah, making dua together at bedtime, listening to the birds chirping in the morning at daycare drop-off and saying "That’s the sound of Allah singing to us." When children learn that what they have is a gift rather than a given, gratitude starts to feel natural rather than forced.

Gratitude isn't something we can demand from our children. But we can build the conditions for it — through faith, through slowing down, and through showing them, one small moment at a time, that enough is already a lot.

P.S. Duas in the Dark is a gentle, faith-led bedtime book that helps little believers drift off to sleep after saying their special dua — available now on Amazon.

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