Thanks Giving
A glimpse into Giving Thanks as the world of materialism ramps up…
Dear Parents & Caregivers,
I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling it. The pressure to find, the pressure buy, the pressure to gift-give - to the extent that at some point it ceases to feel like giving at all. This is why I so appreciate Thanksgiving, or Thanks Giving Day as I have grown up. The sentiment of the day is, after all, gratitude. We’re all likely familiar with the profound effect of regularly practicing gratitude in our lives and what an invitation to offer our children.
As the luck of timing would have it, a week ago my partner, Mike, came home with an energy which reflected gratitude for the life we are living. You could feel it. He had worked an all dayer - which, if you know Mike means he didn’t get to take a nap - yet his energy was contagious. The boys felt it, I felt it and we were all lifted into his energy field. Even routines that had become humdrum were revitalized, running smoother and feeling more connected somehow. Gratitude had lifted our entire world.
That very night, after the kiddos were sound asleep, he shared his experiences that day and had the realization that he wanted to hold onto both the perspective he gained and the gratitude he created space for as a result. He also held an awareness that because perspective shifts all the time and if he waited to feel grateful who knew when it would enter again. So, he asked himself, how could he hold onto both the perspective he gained and the gratitude he felt? How could we as a family practice gratitude regularly? He knew the easy part was wanting to do this. The hard part would be the building of the habit until it became part of the fabric of our lives.
He proposed that each night, as part of our bedtime routine with the boys we make space for gratitude. It started simply as asking ‘What are you glad about that happened today?’ Though our kiddos are 6, 4 and 2, they each had an answer. Within a small moment, they practiced gratitude. They focused on what they had and best of all, on this particular night it had nothing to do with a “thing”, but an experience shared. Josh was glad we put up our lights, Leif was happy we made jokes at dinner and TJ was glad to RUN RUN RUN!! It was a reminder that it’s often the little things. I’d like to think that they went to bed a little fuller and a little lighter in the ways we hope as parents.
With the time to reflect and Thanks Giving break this week I am inspired to build on this and believe that practicing gratitude together will not only elevate our collective energy, but also anchor us in the coming weeks of the commercialization and materialism that tends to dominate this time of year.
with L.O.V.E.,
Sarah