Play-Learn-Grow-Repeat

From Wednesday Mom – Janelle:
Thanksgiving is a time to put things into perspective. Like anyone, I can find things to complain about, and I do. When my children were sick last week, I was buried in Kleenex.  When I got sick too, it seemed like the world was collapsing. My husband reminded me that our kids had colds, not cancer, and we should be thankful.

My boys (and husband) are a handful at times. I am constantly dealing with some kind of mess, but I couldn’t imagine living everyday life without them.  Through the screams, whines and little tiffs, we grow stronger every day.

In a world where people (myself included) always sweat the small stuff, we often fail to realize how much easier our lives are than even fifty years ago. We have cars that can take us anywhere in amazing comfort. We can communicate instantly with friends anywhere in the world, and we can visit the most famous landmarks of the world without leaving our homes.

Whether it’s as profound as your family or as petty as your cell phone, there are plenty of things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

From Melissa: Monday Mom:
One of the more challenging parts of parenting a 4-year old is teaching him to be thankful for his many blessings (home, safety, health, toys, etc..). I have tried to model this behavior with our prayers at night. He is “okay” with this skill. But still needs some improvement. He was actually much better at this when he was younger.

I would like to start doing community service projects with him this year. I have been thinking about having him go visit a nursing home (maybe braving it, and taking our dog). Once he is a bit older, I hope to have him spend some of his holidays helping out in the soup kitchens in inner city Harrisburg. But at this point, I feel he is too young for that undertaking. We also sponsor a child in Africa. (Obvious is his name.) Brady has prayed for that little boy to get water and food every day for over a year now. He even told his class that he was thankful for his “brother Obvious – whom he has never met.”

Last year, we went to visit Santa and Brady informed him to send his toys to kids who don’t have anything, because his mama already bought him too much. Sadly, the child is right. Now his toys are nearly all educational, but he does have too much. I plan to pack up a lot this season and give it away. Most of it has never been used. Brady is happy with his Moon Sand table, cars/trucks/trains, and Wii. I plan to go light on birthday and Christmas this year too. We are not in a good place financially this year anyway, so it is time. It is hard though, since his birthday is Christmas Eve. But I will try…. I promise!!

One thing that we have always done was the 10 days of Thanks. I use Facebook as the method to share our thankfulness and Brady and I each post one thing we are thankful for (on my page), every day for 10 days. This has really made us think about what matters and what doesn’t. Now of course, since Brady is 4, some of his “thankful” items are for his geotrax (and other “toy” items). But I bet 6-8 of those posts are deep. So, today will start our annual 10 Days of Thanks. I can’t wait to see what little man has to say this year.