Especially Grateful

As your blogger read through our past Thanksgiving posts, a definite theme runs through the years - gratitude.

Some years it is for things like terrific Thanksgiving books for kids (still need something to bring with you for the younger members of your family?). Some years it is a special appreciation of all the schools and families who come to us for guidance and support and of the professionals (teachers, physicians,  psychologists, speech and language therapists, and occupational therapists) who trust us to help their patients.

And every year we are grateful for our amazing Yellin Center team - the clinical staff and administrators without whom we could not do what we do. Their care for the families we see and their dedication to our shared vision make us grateful for them every single day.

This year, we are especially thankful for family. No matter where you stand following this year's contentious election, it has not been an easy few months. Some families have been divided along political lines while others have relied upon one another to deal with their stress and concerns. Parents have needed to explain the election process and its results to their children (and our colleagues at the American Academy of Pediatrics have some sound advice on this) We hope that even if your family has not been united as recent political events have unfolded, that you are able to come together around the Thanksgiving table and remember all the things you like about one another.

As for the Yellin family, we will be gathering, as we do each year, to watch the parade, spend the day talking and sharing and eating and catching up with family members we see all too seldom. It's a blessing to have far-flung family come together and support one another. We wish you a terrific Thanksgiving.

The Yellin Center will be closed for the Thanksgiving weekend, reopening on Monday, November 28th. 

Photo credit: Terry Ballard via flickr cc

Gratitude

It's the day before Thanksgiving, and our thoughts may turn not only to turkey preparation and family travel arrangements but to gratitude. The holiday reminds us to appreciate the harvests on our tables and in our lives. Of course, every day—not just the fourth Thursday of November—offers an opportunity to give thanks. Whether or not this opportunity will be seized, however, seems to be somewhat related to a person’s age.

To be grateful for someone or their actions, one must be able to take that person’s perspective and understand their kind intentionality. This perspective-taking ability, or theory of mind, begins to develop around the ages of three to five; so children younger than this are lacking key building blocks for gratitude. 

After this, however, gratitude may not only grow but become more readily expressed, as language skills develop. This tends to taper off, though, during the adolescent years. Gratitude involves acknowledging a sense of dependency, and this goes against the teenage inclination to assert independence. Adulthood then shifts the gratitude slope in a new direction. 

Research has suggested that as adults age, their brains become less reactive to negative information while equally or even more reactive to positive information. This translates to a generally more positive outlook, which facilitates more gratitude. Psychologists have also noted that accumulated life experience along with a shortened sense of time seem to factor into the increase in gratitude that tends to come with aging.

Photo credit: anjanettew vis flickr cc