From a very early age, we started both our kids out saying their prayers at night. Neither of us are extremely religious, but religion was a part of our upbringing and we are still figuring out how exactly we want to incorporate it in our kids lives. The idea of taking time at the end of the day to thank the Lord for our blessings is, to me, a no-brainer. No question about it – our family has a lot to be thankful for.
Our son (now almost 5) has turned prayers into a running list of all of the amazing things that have happened in his short little life. No “top 3 things of the day” for him – each good thing / person that happens to him gets tacked onto the end of an increasingly long list. We always start with “Thank you for a nice day.” No matter how crazy it was, something in that day was nice, right? Then G start out “Thank you for going to the Yo Gabba Gabba show (that was in 2009), the Elmo show (2010), the three rodeos (used to be two, after this summer had to up the number by one more), Mom and Dad, sister, etc. etc. Every night it warms my heart to hear how many things he has enjoyed so much that he has added them to his list.
My 2.5 year old has started even earlier, given that she’s had the older brother to listen to. She is the one who coined the phrase “Thank You Fors.” When we cuddle up in bed to read books at bedtime she says “Don’t forget – have to say my thank you fors!” I love it.
One of my 2012 resolutions as a part of this happiness experiment was to start writing down at least three things that I am thankful for at the end of the day. I am 9 days in and I can already tell you – I LOVE it. It feels great to end the day on a positive note. It feels great to spend a quick moment to reflect on the activities of the day (there must be something that happened in between “I want the pink cup! No I want the pink cup!” to be thankful for!)
Gretchen Rubin said in The Happiness Project that “the days are long, but the years are short.” Isn’t that the truth. Some days I barely think I will survive the monotony and “Groundhog’s Day”-ness of the stay at home mom life, and I feel so guilty for it. It is refreshing and sobering to end the day remembering all I have to be grateful for.
It doesn’t matter if the kitchen floor needs to be vacuumed, if there are three loads of laundry waiting to be folded, and if I didn’t have a chance to shower today.
I have a wonderful husband and two healthy kids.
I have a lot of “Thank You Fors.”
