My family is everything to me, and I’m so happy and thankful for a how giving they are. My daughter and husband have both added so much to my life for which I’m grateful. Here’s to another happy Thanksgiving!
All the best,
Tanya
“When are we going to bring out the Thanksgiving turkey?” my six year old eagerly asked. I was pleasantly surprised that she recalled when I purchased it on sale after last year’s Thanksgiving. No it’s not a real turkey for eating, but it is meant to satiate one’s appetite for expressing gratitude.
The turkey comes with a book with a great story explaining why it’s important to be thankful. There’s also cardstock feathers to family members to dress it with why they are thankful.
We set this cute bird at our dinner table last week, and Quinn was so excited to write down why she’s thankful. As she placed a feather on the turkey, she said, “I wish we had tons of feathers because I can think of a hundred reasons why I’m thankful!” She then proceeded to rattle off a few. One was being able to have food to eat. Another was being able to read. This was music to my ears because sometimes we’re all guilty of taking things for granted and may not express gratitude.
I truly am thankful to have a daughter who has so much for which to be thankful.
All the best,
Tanya
“I have something for you, Mommy,” my little girl told me. It wasn’t Mother’s Day, not my birthday nor Christmas. What could it be, I thought? Probably a picture she drew or a craft she made at camp. “You have something for me?” I asked. “For you and Daddy,” Quinn responded. It was a special note she wrote that said, “For Mom and Dad.” Inside, it read, “You are kind an loveing. love Quinn.” While the English professor in me was tempted to tell her she spelled loving incorrectly, I was just so moved by the kind gesture of my six year old.
I inquired, “Did your camp counselor ask you all to write notes to your parents?” Quinn quickly said, “No! I just wanted to write you and Daddy a note to thank you for being kind and loving.” Even though we’ve both been keeping gratitude journals since the start of the year and often talk about the importance of expressing gratitude and thanking people for their generosity and kindness, I was still pleasantly surprised to get such a lovely note from Quinn. She truly is a loving and caring daughter for which I am grateful.
All the best,
Tanya
My four year old smiled saying, “I want to disguise my turkey as Princess Poppy!” Last week, my daughter’s preschool teacher assigned a special Thanksgiving project to the class: disguise the turkey who fears being eaten for Thanksgiving. The instructions encouraged family involvement, which was fine by me, especially since I love doing crafts. We discussed exactly how Quinn wanted her turkey to look, rounded up the supplies, most that we already had since I am a crafter, and got to work!
It brought back memories of before Quinn was in preschool and was home with her father and me. We would do fun projects all the time. Though we still do them now, it is not as frequent as it once was. When we finished the project, Quinn said, “Thank you so much for helping me, Mommy!” Our turkey looks just like Poppy! She was so excited to show Princess Poppy, the turkey, to her teacher and friends and even asked me to take her picture once all of the disguised turkeys were on display.
Since I teach college courses, the last couple of months in the semester get hectic, and it is difficult to carve out the extra time to just do a fun activity and enjoy each other’s company. Even knowing that this is my first blog entry for this month is a reminder that time gets away from us all, so it’s moments like this that are so precious to me. I am grateful to have Quinn in my life and am glad for this memorable moment in disguise.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.
All the best,
Tanya
With a smile on her face, climbing up her “new” jungle gym, my daughter said, “Wasn’t it nice of the neighbors to give this to me!” “It sure was,” I told her. She then proceeded to ask, “Why did they give it to me?” To which I responded, their children outgrew it, so they thought you would like it. “Wow, that was very thoughtful!” Quinn informed me. “Yes, it sure was.” I said.
More and more frequently, I hear people talk about how it’s a cruel world and that everyone is out for themselves or how so many people, especially the younger generations, have an attitude of entitlement. While it may be somewhat true, I sincerely do not believe all people are this way. I have been trying my best to instill positive values such as gratitude and hopefulness rather than entitlement and hopelessness in my four year old daughter, so it warms my heart each time she not only utters the phrase thank you but expresses her gratitude by acknowledging how thoughtful the other person is. I always tell her that when people do something nice or out of the kindness of their hearts, it must be acknowledged because they did not have to do anything.
Just yesterday, my uncle asked her is she wanted to help frost a pink lemonade cake for the July 4th cookout, and she was so excited and said, “Uncle David picked me to help with the cake! That was very nice of him.” After helping, she told him, without me coaching her, “Thank you for allowing me to help decorate the cake, Uncle David.”
I truly believe gratitude goes further than we think and that one is never too young or too old to display it. The world is not so cruel as long as we contribute some positivity towards it. I hope I am modeling a behavior where my daughter will continue to feel the same way I do well into adulthood.
All the best,
Tanya
“Look what I made!” my little girl exclaimed. It was a cute paper bag turkey. Upon arriving home, I noticed the red heart label that read, “What I am thankful for.” Each colorful feather had a name. First was Grover, Quinn’s best Sesame Street friend who’s been with her through thick and thin. I thought to myself, “Okay, fair enough.” The next feather said, “My Daddy.” But of course her daddy would follow. Then, to my surprise, third said, “Mickey Mouse.” Mickey Mouse, I thought. Really, Mickey Mouse is next? I tried to keep a big smile on my face as my three year old watched my expression when I saw that the very final feather, said, “My Mommy.”
Of course, me being the critical thinker and over analyzer that I am, I wondered if the teacher put the feathers in the order Quinn stated what she was thankful for, or if it was just random. I wanted to ask, but my husband tried to reassure me that our daughter is not more thankful for Mickey Mouse than she is for me. So he asked her, “What are you thankful for, Quinn?” She quickly responded, “Mommy, Daddy, Grover, Nana, Kenzie, Auntie…” She named quite a few more of our family members and her friends. “Whew, that was a close one!” I thought.
Then, on Thanksgiving, my niece asked Quinn what she is thankful for, and she said, “Mommy, because she always plays with me and has fun with me.” That really made my day and melted my heart. I know Thanksgiving was just a few days ago, but not a day goes by that I am not thankful for the bond that I have with my little girl and how much we are both growing together.
All the best,
Tanya
Mommy's Baby Steps 