The Thankful Month...

If you have tiny people in your house you've probably seen a good friend of ours, Daniel Tiger.  Daniel Tiger is the sweetest little buddy for toddlers you could ever invite into your home courtesy of PBS.  His manners are impeccable, his giggle is adorable and he only occassionaly gets into trouble, but always he turns it around into a little learning moment.

Well, yesterday my kiddos saw a Daniel Tiger episode about being Thankful.  And I just got sucked in.  Mostly because Lawd knows I'm a stickler about showing gratitude.  I mean, come on, I'm one Thank You note shy of a million or so, but you know what... my kids will know we're grateful.  For plentiful food, for a safe home, for good health and a free country and cool toys and loving family and friends.  It's so dang important to me, it really is.

But I don't want it to be just "done" you know, like rattling off "I love you" before you hang up the phone every single time, which in a way depletes it of it's real meaning, but can't be overlooked all at the same time?  I want it to be felt in their bones and not fade away over time.  How do you do that?  Because I've noticed in myself, that being thankful is tied symbiotically with being happy.  And if I can earn my "happy and grateful kid" mama merit badge, I'll definitely take the necessary steps to sew that patch onto my uniform.

One of my favorite memories of gratitude in my life was after Kael was born.  I don't think I've ever felt more lucky or more aware of every bit of good in my life.  I was a mom.  I had a beautiful, healthy baby who came to us through the greatest succession of miracles one could ever imagine.  I basically wanted to run through a field of daisies and skip and leap and scream to the world, "LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL!"  And I kind of did for, oh, about three plus years there...  :)

RyGar and I would sit late at night with our babe snuggled between us and we'd top each other with our statements of gratitude...

"I love his chubby cheeks," I'd say.

"I love how he wraps his little fingers around my thumb... look,"  Ry would say.

"I love when he yawns and then smacks his milky little mouth as he falls back to sleep," I'd say.

"I love the way he smells like the best dessert ever."

"I love how soft his skin is."

And this would go on and on -- too long -- until we'd used up every beautiful observation we could make about our dreamy baby and we were laughing because neither of us wanted to "lose" by not having anything else to say.  Those moments, of being so fully aware that we were blessed and happy -- that was gratitude in its purest form.  Everything in our life these past few years, with the addition of these amazing babies of ours, seems more vivacious, more purposeful, more pleasurable; because we have been so acutely aware of how lucky we are.

So, maybe this month we'll do a thankful tree a la our little friend Daniel Tiger.  Maybe we'll buy some stationery and write some thank you notes which is a goodie but an oldie.  Maybe we'll just enthusiastically praise the world around us and make sure our kids have an impressive collection of adjectives with which to describe the blue sky they love, an ice cream cone they're enjoying or a good book and a tight hug at bedtime.  

November has unwrapped some sweet moments for us so far, and while I'm coming too late to the game to do a "30 days of Gratitude" or something along those lines, it is felt no less.  I am happiest when I am most grateful... so, November, you're looking mighty fine.