Have a Gratitude Attitude

If you grew up on the Brite Ideas tapes (yes, cassette tapes), then you sang that title in your head.

November is an obvious time to focus on gratitude. I've had this quote on my mind lately:

"Perhaps focusing on what we are grateful for is the wrong approach. ... It is easy to be grateful for things when life seems to be going our way. But what then of those times when what we wish for seems to be far out of reach? Could I suggest that we see gratitude as a disposition, a way of life that stands independent of our current situation? In other words, I’m suggesting that instead of being thankful for things, we focus on being thankful in our circumstances—whatever they may be." - Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Yesterday was one of those days that was really hard to feel grateful. A sick screaming baby, not being able to shower till my husband came home, a daughter getting her toenail split open, dinner spilled all over the family room rug.

I am very far from being thankful in my circumstances. But to try to get there, I'm going to find something specific I'm grateful for in the moment each day this month.

I can't say that I'm grateful that my daughter hurt her toe, but bad situations can bring reminders of things we're grateful for. I'm grateful for a husband who handles those situations calmly. He used to be an EMT and teaches First Aid, so little things like bloody toes don't freak him out. I'm also very grateful that he was there when it happened so he could take care of it.

How do  you stay thankful in your circumstances? This is something I need to work on.

Gratitude Now

Last night we had a lesson on gratitude for Family Home Evening. We printed out Count Your Many Blessings trees (which I found here via Pinterest) and some colored circles. After talking about what blessings are we each wrote some blessings down on the circles and glued them to our trees.

I added a few to my four year old's like family and preschool and friends. Here's what she came up with on her own:

- Ella (a cousin)

- squirrels

- M&Ms

- our plants

- painting pictures

- sending pictures to people

- elephants

- flowers

I asked my almost two year old what she loved and she said cars (the toy she was playing with yesterday). Her sister added the beach for her tree (she's been talking about the beach a lot lately). We also put her family, apples, and books. And she added lots of blank circles because gluing is fun.

My tree includes family, friends, technology that helps us keep in touch with family, having a second car, free preschool, my husband's job, personal revelation, and naptime.

My husband's tree includes family, his job, education, hope, the ability to progress, and coming home to hugs and kisses every day.

What are you grateful for today?

A Thankful Thanksgiving

I'm excited for Christmas. But even while the Christmas music plays, I'm trying to remember Thanksgiving and all the things I'm thankful for. We watch Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and as much as I've tried to talk to my daughter about what Thanksgiving means, all she comes up with when I ask her about it is that we get to eat pumpkin pie. Which is an awesome part about Thanksgiving.

This year we made Thankful Trees. Ivy, Mommy, and Daddy each got a tree to put leaves on of things we are thankful for.

Ivy's first thing she was thankful for was Jesus, then Daddy, then Noelle, then Mommy. She repeated those things every new time I asked her what she wanted to put on her tree. After I pointed out that we had them up there, she started naming grandmas and grandpa and cousins and aunts and uncles and friends. I put cousins on one leaf because we didn't have enough space to name them all individually.

Some of the things I wrote that I was thankful for had to do with what happened that day. Playgroup was playgroup day. Our washer and dryer was on the day when our washer was leaking and I didn't have a washer for a couple of days. Husband and children and family are obvious ones, but they are what I think of first and what I am most grateful for.

Since Daddy works long hours, he had a harder time keeping up with our trees, but he busted out a whole bunch of them one day and Ivy helped him glue them on. Which is the best part of any project for Ivy, the gluing.

What are you thankful for this year? What are you doing to stop and remember all you have to be thankful for?

Preschool: Families

The month of November is about gratitude in our home preschool. Last week's focus was on family. We drew a picture of our little family which my daughter identified as herself, Daddy, her sister, and with some prompting, Mommy too.

I stole the next idea from my sister and we made a stick figure family tree of my side of the family and another one for my husband's side. I did the drawing, but I asked Ivy who each aunt and uncle had married and who their kids were. She did pretty good. And I thought it was great timing for reviewing the members of our extended family because we're going to see them all the week of Thanksgiving.

This week's focus is on friends. And without planning it to coincide with this week, we actually have two playdates at our house. So we'll have lots of friend time and I'll probably talk to her about sharing and being nice and how we treat our friends in preparation for having so many people over.

What Is

Lisa Leonard is a jewelry designer and blogger who I've followed for a while. I don't know the details, but she has a son with severe disabilities. I've followed her blog not because I'm big into jewelry, but because of the grace with which she handles her life's challenges. Today she put up a link to an article she wrote a while back called What If? There are a lot of what ifs in all our lives, but in the article she said that she chooses to focus on what is instead of the what ifs of life.

I struggle with this. For a long time, I felt that if my living situation were different, I would be happy. Eventually I realized that if I couldn't be happy with what is, then there was no guarantee of being happy if outside situations were different. Our happiness has to come from within, without being dependent on other people or things to make us so. Not easy for a natural pessimist--but that's just another excuse.

The truth is, I'm extremely blessed. Sometimes I have to hear about those who have more challenges than me, and see how much more grateful they are, to appreciate that.

So--cheers to what is. To what we have, and not to what we don't. To how things are, not to how they could be.