Do you teach your daughter to say “Thank you”? What about the art of writing thank you notes?  I have come to be known as the Thank you note queen.  I tend to write a thank you note for just about anything.  I believe that showing gratitude is important.

Showing others that you are grateful for their actions or their gifts is important.  So, teaching your daughter to share their thankfulness with those who are kind to them whether by giving them a gift, or by doing something for them is important.

By teaching your daughter early in life about this important task she will be prepared when those times in life come where she will need to truly thank those who have been so kind to her.  Whether it be for that special wedding gift, the perfect item for her newborn baby or for offering their sympathies when she looses that important person in her life to death.

Start early by leading your child in writing thank you notes for gifts that they receive for their birthday for example or for a happy that they were sent while they were ill.  Purchase some simple thank you notes and have them fill them in with their thanks and appreciation.

The act of saying thank you doesn’t have to be long winded or elaborate to be meaningful.  So, in short the most important part is doing it!

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It is getting closer and closer to the holiday season.  Pretty soon we’ll be munching on turkey and wrapping gifts.  What do you and your family do to celebrate and to create lasting memories and traditions.  Do you have certain traditions that you pass on to your children and that have become almost a “way of life” for your family?  I believe traditions are important.  They don’t have to be elaborate or complicated to be meaningful, but they do stick with you for years to come and can make an impact upon your children.

Another important thing you can do with your children is to discuss the traditions that you have with them.  You might have a specific tradition because it has been handed down in your family for many years, or it may be a tradition that you and your husband decided to create for your own family.  Let your child know which is the case and how the tradition came about so that they can share that information with the next generation and understand the significance to you and your family.

So, make some memories with your children this holiday season whether big or small and watch them smile, enjoy themselves and recall the times over and over in the months ahead.  I know I sure do enjoy remembering my  holidays of years gone by, don’t you?  Let your child share in that same joy.

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“You can be anything you want to be.”  How many times did I hear that from my parents when I was growing up?

My parents were always encouraging me to “reach for the stars”.  They were the type of people who believed in going after what you wanted with gusto.  Back in junior high, when I wanted to make the cheerleading squad and did not, I remember my dad saying, “you can practice harder and make it next year.”  Giving up on my dream was not an option.  He said something similar years later when I applied for admission to a post graduate program, and was not accepted, I in his eyes had to keep trying. 

Dreams are an important part of our lives; they give us something to look forward to and to enjoy when they come true.  How do you know what dreams are realistic and which you should scrap? For Christians it is important for us to align our dreams with God’s will for our lives.  God has plans for us. Jeremiah 29:11 states, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Also, Proverbs 16:9 says, “In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.”

God gave us the ability to dream, and I believe we should all use it; keeping in mind, we should allow God to direct us.

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I have a friend who we affectionately call the “texting queen”.  She loves to text message.  We can be sitting there chatting and her phone is buzzing in her hand.  She can simultaneously text and talk to you at the same time.  The other day she was talking to one of our friends on the land line phone and texting me about what they were talking about.  Crazy huh? 

But this tells alot about her communication style.  She loves to chat and chat alot and texting allows her to do so anytime, anywhere both quickly and easily. It’s no wonder teens love to text.  It is much faster than calling someone and it can be done from anywhere. 

I also find that texting is alot like being online.  Some people communicate better in “writing” so to speak and so for them texting is a great option, allowing them to communicate their true feelings in a way that they might never would if they had to “speak” those words out loud instead.  I find this quite freeing actually. I have found though I am a speaker by “trade” that there are some people I communicate better to through the written word, so for this texting is one of the options by which to communicate with them better.

So, in my opinion texting should absolutely be an option for you to use to communicate with your daughter, though some may call it “impersonal” I believe that it can be just the opposite, a way to get “personal” with them on their level and understand them better than ever before!  Now, GO TEXT your daughter!

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I talk a whole lot about communication in this column.  The thing is I believe that in any and all relationships it is a must.  Communication though is more than just talking.  It can be done in so many different shapes and forms and in this technology driven age there are even more ways to communicate.  So, I’m wondering, how do you communicate with your daughter.  Simply by talking, or maybe through texting, facebooking, online instant messenging, or other ways?  I’m curious to find out how you communicate with her and what you believe about communication. Is it important to your relationship.  Are you able to read your daughter’s thoughts, attitudes and feelings simply by looking at her.  My mom sure could and still can.  That’s because body language is yet another form of communication and it can tell others so much about us.

So, what’s your favorite communication style.  Do you tend to have one communication style with some people and another with others?  Do you know the communication styles of your daughter(s)?

I’m anxious to hear your thoughts and feelings because I believe one of the best ways to truly connect with your daughter is through communicating with her and that takes some thought and effort sometimes.  Once I hear your thoughts I”m going to base future blog posts on them.  Thanks so much for your participation.  Simply comment below.  I can’t wait to hear from you!

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