Can you teach your DCs to be happy?

[Sonotwonderwoman]

DS1 is 5 and constantly wanting things, complaining about friends, school, whinging, life is so unfair, I haven't had any fun today, nobody likes me, everything seems to be negative
Dh and I honestly aren't like this at all, and are trying to teach him to be happy with what we have, that we are very lucky compared to others etc. We try and praise and instill in him confidence, self worth, and of course tell him every day that we love him.

I'm sure most of this is because he is 5, but any advice would be greatly appreciated

Happy or contented?

DD was a terrible whinger that age, so we started having this conversation:
"What was the worst thing that happened today?"
"What was the funniest?"
"What was the weirdest?"
"What was the best?"

Helped her to shift her focus a bit while giving her a chance to vent about bad things.

Question of the day? Genius!

Reflective listening great too. "I hate school!" - "You really don't like school at the moment?" rather than "You shouldn't hate school, you've got lovely friends!" etc.

I think happiness is an unrealistic ambition on the whole.

I guess reflecting on it I meant contented more that happy hannahsaunt

I don't expect continous happiness, We would just like to help them appreciate the good things that they achieve/happen/have a bit more.

Really like the idea of happy lists, Question of the day, and the reflective listening, will give it a go.

Forgot to say thank you!