We don’t need a lecture on the value or meaning of Thanksgiving, but many parents have said that they struggle with helping their children understand what it means to be thankful. In the conscious parenting world, being thankful starts with being thankful for who you are, then thankful for your family, then your community, then your world. The holiday of Thanksgiving is a great way to remind our children how to express gratitude. Below are some of our favorite ways to do this. Maybe you’ll try one of our suggestions; we’d love to know how it affected your family. Or maybe you have a favorite way to express gratitude either on Thanksgiving or any day – we’d love for you to share it with us here.
1) When my kids were little we passed a man playing his clarinet (badly) on the way to preschool every morning. The kids would comment and we would talk about how nice it was to see him there offering what he could. I knew he was indigent, but he was on a corner of a busy intersection and the only way people were going to give him money was if they threw it at him from their cars as they entered the freeway on-ramp. That Thanksgiving my two children and my nephew went with me to thank him. I parked the car at a nearby shopping center and we walked to where he was playing. We gave him a home baked loaf of pumpkin bread. The kids were so happy to help him.
2) Many civil servants (like police officers and firemen) have to work on the holidays, giving up their time with family so that they can keep us safe or keep our utilities working. Again, when my kids were fairly young we took homemade pastries to our local fire department. The men were very grateful and the kids have never forgotten how that felt.
3) As your family gathers and talks on Thanksgiving, have a jar or decorated box out in the common area with some slips of paper and pens or markers nearby. Encourage everyone to write down things they are grateful for and put the slips in the box. Once everyone is gathered for the meal open the box and take turns reading the slips of paper. It will be an incredibly uplifting time.
4) Help your kids list a few people that have touched their lives over the last year. Depending on the age of the child, pick an appropriate number of people and have the child(ren) draw pictures or write notes to these people telling them why they are thankful for them.
5) At dinner, or at another equally focused time, tell your kids why you are grateful for them. We tend to assume our children know how grateful we are that they are in our lives, but in the daily hustle and bustle of life our kids tend to remember most the things we’ve scolded them for more than they remember the things we appreciate in them.
6) Start a new recycling program at home as a way of being thankful for the earth. If you already recycle paper or plastics, add conserving water (many municipal water companies will provide you with shower aerators or low flow faucet caps), start a home composting bin, plant some herbs or add some potted plants to your home, pick up trash with a local scouting group or even start making your own non-toxic cleaning products.
However you choose to express your gratitude this Thanksgiving, we at Little Soul Productions want you to know that we are grateful for you and your family. We wish you many blessings this Thanksgiving and throughout the holiday season!
Little Soul Productions 