Constant complaints...how to deal?

[CheerfulYank]

My DS (7 years old) is extremely negative. He is lovely in many ways but he insists on seeing the worst in every situation, comparing what he has unfavorably with others, and complaining all the time. I feel like it's getting to be a habit with him and is making him unhappy, and honestly, hard to be around. :(

How do I help him reframe his thoughts more positively? I don't want him to feel like his feelings aren't okay (like he has to fake being happy) but I feel like consistently dwelling on negative things will make him less resilient as a person.

Help!

I too have a 7 year old Ds who is very much the same. He feels everything he does, be it school work of riding his scooter is in his words "rubbish!"
I'm hoping he will grow out of it, but my husband is quite negative and his glass is always half empty! Is anyone else in ur family negative??

I am watching this with interest.

Find something he enjoys or is good at and leverage it to show him he's good or if he isn't doesn't matter because it's fun and having fun at something you're bad at it just as worthwhile as an experience in life.

Don't kid him on though, explain to him having a negative attitude and living with it is worse and isn't something people like. Nothing wrong with seeing the potential problems, it's voicing them and not doing anything, not challenging those things or yourself to overcome them that's an issue I think. Show him you can take something he or you isn't good at and through hard work can do things you wouldn't do otherwise.

I have a similar seven year old.

I try to pick her up on it so I will say "is this a happy thing?" When she starts to tell me some miserable thing and she will realise and switch what she is saying.

On the way home from school I will sometimes say "tell me a good thing that happened today"

And I try to be positive myself about things that happen to me.

My dd has a special moany voice which she seems to reserve for me and it drives me up the wall.