🌽November Newsletter🦃 24 Days of Gratitude PDF + Make-Ahead Thanksgiving Dinner Skill School!

All growing up, whenever my siblings and I asked our dad what he wanted for Christmas or his birthday, he always but always answered the same thing:

“Good kids.”

We would roll our eyes and then get him a deluxe package of Duct tape or a bag of Almond Joys. Check. Now as adults, when we ask Dad what he wants for Christmas or his birthday he simply says: “nothing.” I believe this may be his own lovely way of saying that he believes his parenting wish to have been granted. That he believes to have indeed raised five “good” kids. I personally think he is being a bit generous on my account, but hey, I’ll take it.

I never understood why my dad’s Christmas wish was always for “good kids” . . . until now. There truly are some things you just can’t understand until you are a parent, and this is surely one of them.

If our kids grow up to be honest, vibrant, loving humans . . . what more could we possibly wish for?

Grandpa with his second generation of “good” kids

Now, as a bit of a rule-breaker and a rebel myself, I’m not sure “good” is necessarily the word that I wish on our kids. Truth be told, I like a bit of spunk, sass, and a good healthy dose of authority-challenging in our littles. My parents did too, which is how they ended up with a whole brood of firecrackers (grandkids included). Boy, get us all into one room and watch out!

No, I don’t mind a dab of deviance or a wisp of willfulness. We’re raising little . . . um . . . humans, after all.

But semantics aside, I agree with the heart of my dad’s wish for “good” kids.

It’s what each parent longs for deep, deep down for their children.

We may have to search our souls, but it’s there.

We want GRATEFUL KIDS.

As a public school teacher and now Homeschool mom, I’ve taught a fairly wide range of academic content. And I’m convinced there is nothing half as difficult to cultivate in a child as a heart of gratitude. Ok, I haven’t taught Calculus, but I still bet gratitude trumps it! It’s something that I emphasize day after day with our kids, and the progress is Toby-the-Tortoise-slow. Some days it feels like Gratitude will only ever be a visitor to our home and hearts. But then, the next day I see it’s friendly face . . . welcomed in without prompting by one of our kids . . . and I rest in the belief that one day Gratitude will need its own place setting and toothbrush.

So, we will continue to practice gratitude every day.

For gratitude comes slowly.

But it’s presence is a welcome gift.

A gift to the parent.

A gift to the child and future adult.

A gift to a world in desperate need of thanksgiving.