Friday, November 4, 2011

Day #4: Getting the Kids Involved

Close up Kestan painting

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.
-William Arthur Ward

The lovely list of people joining us for Thirty Days of Giving Thanks is growing.  It is such a thrill to see the kind of gratitude you are sharing with the world each day!  And for those of you interested in joining us, let me know.  It doesn't matter if you thank someone for thirty days, or just one - sharing your gratitude - big or small - MATTERS and it feels really good.

My 3-year-old, Kestan, has joined in on the fun.  So each morning we ask each other, "Who do you want to thank today?"  The other day he picked his babysitter, Lauren. When I asked how he wanted to thank her, he simply said, "I'll give her a hug."  It doesn't take much, does it?

Kestan painting thank you

Today, Kestan wanted to paint a picture for his Nana.  We were heading to her house today anyway, so we painted some signs together (along with my 1-year-old) and left our artwork hanging in Nana and Grandpa Steve's kitchen.

Thank you nana

Kestan thought it would be fun to hang our paintings in the kitchen so they would be surprised when they came home from work today.  I couldn't have agreed more.

Thank you painting from Kestan

Your Personal Reflection:  Who, in your life, would appreciate a little surprise from you today?  If you have kids, let them join in on the fun.

*If you haven't already, visit my previous post and leave a comment for your chance to win my first November challenge give-away.  (More to come!)

5 comments:

  1. I'm no longer on Facebook and don't twitter so I thought I would share here : yesterday I was able to take one of my neighbors out for coffee and adult conversation! A heart felt letter to someone special on a different day. And a simple email to a couple for the out of the blue conversation that brightened my day.

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  2. Lynnette! There is nothing better as a mother than when we can slip away for a few hours for coffee and "adult conversation." Seriously - those are some of my most enriching moments! Maybe the next time you come this way we could slip away for coffee time, too. :) Super happy you enjoyed the conversation and letter writing. Thanks for sharing!

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  3. Today I wrote about thanking a lot of people who helped make my dad's transition from the hospital to the nursing home a smooth one. My daughters were invaluable in feeding their grandfather (he is having difficulty doing that now) and keeping him entertained while the nurses were doing his vitals.

    Thanking people by name was my goal today. It was interesting to see how surprised some people are when they are thanked by name...rather than just a generic "thank you."

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  4. I'm loving your thankful posts. So inspirational!!

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Thanks for sharing!