Gratitude For Mothers: Ways to Feel Thankful & Show Appreciation

This post is all about practicing gratitude during Thanksgiving and the holiday season.

Practicing gratitude can have a massively positive impact on your mental health, but the key is to express appreciation in the right ways. This post will show you how.

Gratitude for Mothers

The Power of Gratitude

Maybe you've heard: “Gratitude turns what we have into enough.” This quote beautifully captures the essence of thankfulness — not as a quick fix, but as a way of seeing and feeling the world.

As Thanksgiving approaches, gratitude is a natural focus for many of us. And for good reason: studies show that practicing gratitude can boost your mood, strengthen relationships, and even improve your health.

But there’s a catch — if you do it the wrong way, it can make you feel worse — like you're actually an ungrateful jerk going through the motions. Let's not do that.



When Gratitude Feels Like A Chore

The truth is, gratitude doesn’t work when it’s just another item on your to-do list. If journaling about what you’re thankful for feels like checking a box (“Write three things down and done!”) you’re missing the point. Approaching gratitude like a task might give you a fleeting sense of accomplishment, but it doesn’t create the lasting impact it’s capable of. Gratitude needs to be more than words on paper; it needs connection to your heart.

To put another way, true gratitude comes from your heart, not your head.

A gratitude practice isn’t something to do and get right. It’s something to feel and express.

A More Genuine Way to Practice Gratitude

Here’s the secret: for gratitude to truly "work," you have to feel it first. Let yourself slow down, reflect, and settle into your body. Find gratitude there, then express it. That’s when the magic happens. When you actually connect with gratitude on a deeper level, it has the power to shift your perspective and bring real joy to your life.

So if "gratitude journaling" or "naming a list of things you're grateful for" helps you access gratitude, then you're golden. Keep with it. Blessings.

But if that approach feels like checking the box, then what you need is a way to ACCESS the FEELING of gratitude. That’s the most important thing.

10 Ways To Actually Feel Gratitude

See if any of these approaches resonate. Remember we are NOT checking a box. We are accessing the feeling of gratitude.

1. Pause and notice a simple pleasure: Warm sunlight, your child’s laughter, your partner’s unconditional love or unwavering support, or a great cup of coffee with your best friend. Pausing to appreciate a moment gives it the chance to become a memory.
2. Reflect on a moment or a special day or special time that brought you joy: Relive it in your mind and let yourself feel it again. Where were you? Who were you with? How did that feel in your body?
3. Write a thank-you note for a present: Think about the fact that someone took the time to think about you. They wanted to share something with you that they enjoy. They wanted to brighten your day. They wanted to spend quality time with you. You're important to them. Now, put pen to paper and express the appreciation you feel.
4. Write an appreciation note: Does the school crossing guard always greet your children with a smile and cheerfulness? Is your barista happy to see you every Tuesday and you brighten each other's day? Do you thoroughly enjoy the festive decorations your neighbor puts up for the holidays? Imagine how it would feel to show them your appreciation. Imagine the positive emotions it might bring up for them.
5. Take an unplugged sensory walk: Notice and appreciate the beauty in your surroundings as you walk. When I unplug and tune into my senses and the surroundings, I feel so lucky to breathe clean air, appreciate the blood moving through my body, hear and watch the water flowing in the river, notice all the geese bobbing and squirrels squirreling. Unplugged I can feel gratitude for being alive and healthy.
6. Turn a challenge into a gratitude lesson: Beware toxic positivity and false silver linings. We're not doing that. But if you've gotten through a difficult situation, ask yourself if there's anything you can appreciate from having endured it. Have you met someone you wouldn't have otherwise? Have you gained skills you can share with other people? Have you shed people or situations that you were attached to but weren't serving you, and now you can move on?
7. Practice mindful eating: When you sit down to eat, notice the aroma, taste, texture of your food. Imagine the food nourishing you. Acknowledge the effort it took to become the meal in front of you. (Honestly this doesn't work nearly as well when you're eating PB&J crusts at the kitchen sink or dried mango in the car on the way to piano lessons, but we can always work with what we've got.)
8. Notice the quality of your breath: If you are healthy, you can celebrate that. If you have a cold, you can acknowledge that breathing isn't easy right now. Then when the cold passes and you feel healthy again, you can celebrate full easy breaths. (Oh the joy of a throat that isn't sore.)
9. Notice all that you do: And speak your appreciation aloud to yourself for all of your hard work.
10. Pay it forward — to yourself: If there's a chore you don't enjoy doing, but you love when it's done, you can work with that by knowing your future self will thank you. Example: I for one do not enjoy cleaning the kitchen. (I'm the alpha cook in our family and I wreak havoc in there.) But I know that by clearing the counters and wiping them down, the next time I walk into the kitchen it will feel so clean and light.



Do any of these different ways of practicing gratitude resonate with you? Which one(s) will you try?

5 Ways To Express Gratitude to the Important People in Your Life

Let’s get a little more specific. Think about the important people in your life, you know, the ones you might take for granted because they’re always around. When you read the following list, tune in to your body to see if any of them feel warm and fuzzy. That’s the sign that you have gratitude that wants to be expressed.

Mother to Child

Write your child a short note about something they did that made you smile or feel proud. Leave it in their lunchbox, on their pillow, or on the fridge for them to find.

Woman to Spouse/Partner

Plan a small surprise or a sweet personalized gift that acknowledges their effort, like making their favorite meal or writing a quick text to say, "I noticed what you did, and I’m so grateful for you." This can hit especially true if it's something small or something they always do. How nice it is not to be taken for granted.

Grown Daughter to Parents

Call your parents just to tell them one thing they taught you that has made your life better or easier, and thank them for it. Maybe you’re thankful that your Dad was one of your biggest cheerleaders, or that your own mother always showed you so much love.

Woman to In-Laws

Send a heartfelt thank-you card or message to your in-laws, sharing something specific you appreciate about their role in your life or the life of your family. In-law relationships can sometimes be tricky. Make sure whatever you do or say feels good to YOU to do or say. That's all you can do!

Sometimes the best gift you can give someone is showing them how much gratitude you have for them.

Pause and Reflect

Here’s something to think about, especially if it’s been a long time since you practiced gratitude intentionally: When was the last time you let gratitude truly sink in, without rushing to the next thing? Take a moment to reflect on how it felt and what made it meaningful. That moment is the kind of gratitude we’re aiming for — the kind that changes how you see your life.

What About You?

What’s one thing you’re truly grateful for this season? I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to share your gratitude list with me!

From My Heart to Yours

This season, I’m choosing to focus on the small, everyday moments of gratitude — the ones that could slip by unnoticed. I’ll be feeling thankful for the quiet mornings when the house is still. The moment my son comes in to sit on my lap and I get to snuggle into his neck, still warm from bed. The moment, much later, when my daughter emerges from sleep and we get to read our book together while I sip on my third-time-reheated coffee. They'll be 8 and 10 soon. They get bigger and more independent every day. I treasure that they want me now.

I'll be grateful over the breaks from school when the mornings are slow and the days are wide open. I'll even be grateful for the time when we'll get cabin fever and need to get out of the house or away from each other, then we'll do that then come back together, hopefully to hot chocolate. I'll be feeling thankful for my husband's patience with my sensitivities and messiness. I'll share my gratitude for his tireless cleaning of the kitchen.

I'll be grateful to be with my cherished family members — parents, sister, nephews, aunts and uncles, cousins — as we come together, knowing that every time we get to do so is a blessing.

I'm grateful for the opportunity to connect with you in this space.

I was in check-the-box energy, and I didn't send a newsletter last week and I missed my self-imposed Thursday deadline this week. Because as satisfying as it can be to check the box, when something that's supposed to come from the heart feels like a task, it doesn't feel worth doing.

But today I did sit down, and I opened the part of my mind and heart that connects to yours, then the writing became easy. So, thank you for being someone I can connect with and write to.

Gratitude is a gift we give each other and ourselves, and I’m leaning into it with my whole heart this year.

XOXO

Erika

This post was all about gratitude for mothers. If this meant something to you, you might also like:

Give Yourself And Other Moms A Boost By Giving And Receiving Compliments

Dear Mom: Here's A Simple Way To *Actually* Unwind

Enough Good Sleep Will Make Your Mornings Easier (For You And Your Kids!) <<< This one is especially handy over long breaks from school



If this post helps make your mom-life easier,

subscribe to the weekly-ish newsletter and never miss a post.