Raising Thankful Kids

Wednesday January 30, 2013

It's not November, but raising thankful kids is a year-round task. And here at the end of the first month of the year, why not embark on a "Thankful Journey" together?

There are lots of ways to share thankfulness, but this is a new one to me. And I love it because it has a year-end (as in New Year's) activity attached.

A friend shared this on Facebook, from a friend, from a friend...and I thought it would be great to pass along to moms!

Make a "Grateful Jar" together. You can decorate it, or just go with the plain jar on the kitchen table. Have slips of paper handy. (I'd punch a hole in them and tie them with a ribbon around the mouth of the jar -- or something to keep them neat and right at hand.)

Whenever anyone in the family has something to be thankful for, they simply write it on one of the slips of paper, fold it, and put it in the jar. Let those blessings collect, and on New Year's? Have a family time. Crack open the jar and read all of the year's blessings.

From the big to the small, you'll relive all those thankful moments together.


Photo credit

Family: Friday's Fave Five

Friday May 13, 2011 Can you name five blessings from your week? Susanne from Living to Tell the Story hosts Friday’s Fave Five each week. Click on over and see her if you’d like to join in!

Here are my favorites for this week:

1. Direct flights. Last week this time I was with the family. We had gathered to celebrate a college graduation, and it was great! A rare direct flight made it even better because I spent less time traveling and more time with the family.

2. Herbal Peppermint Tea -- a Mother's Day gift! My youngest gave me some wonderful loose-leaf herbal tea. The peppermint is so soothing. I just love it. (Thanks to the young lady in his life who helped him, too.)

3. Mother's Day Weekend. I don't know the last time we were all together for Mother's Day weekend, including my eighty-six year old mom. The trip was an adventure for her, but she got to see all of our family and watch a grandson graduate. It was an incredible weekend filled with hugs, tears, beautiful cards, hellos and goodbyes, and Aiden's giggles.

4. My graduate. Here he is -- my college graduate. That's the lovely young lady in his life next to him, and we got to spend a little time with her, too. (So sweet.) He's doing all the real-world stuff now, like interviews, apartment hunting and all that. We're so proud of him!

5. Thankfulness. Oh, just so much to be thankful for. No, this family isn't perfect and everything in life isn't easy, but I'm so thankful for boys who love Mom and Dad and the concept of family and each other and sweet girls and their Source. I've been thinking about that Source lately -- you know, the wellspring. Those broken cisterns run dry pretty quickly, but the joy from Him just keeps bubbling up. Come Monday, that'll probably be the subject of my post.

I joined the party a bit late today -- had a book to finish editing and Blogger was down on Thursday night. And last week I wasn't able to come greet as usual as we were "familying." But I'll be around this weekend to say hi. Hope all of you had a wonderful Mother's Day!

Blessings on your week ahead.

Sometimes Life Intervenes

Wednesday January 5, 2011

It’s good to be back!

I can’t wait to sift through my reader, visit you all, and hear all about your holidays.

I was away and with family but I planned to stay in a bit closer touch with you and my blog…but life intervened. My mom, who’s a two day drive from us, was hospitalized as we drove toward Indiana.

She’s much better now. In two days she was home from the hospital, but since she wasn’t in top shape, I hosted Christmas in her house. I did the cooking and the wrapping and the baking, along with the other things I had planned to do. So it was a very full, busy time as I played Mom, Daughter, Sister, Grandmom, and Wife.

Things are still spinning a bit – my house and classroom aren’t in the shape I’d like them to be. But they’ll get there, with time. Little by little.

I learned several things this Christmas. Nobody told me how hard it would be to say goodbye to a grandbaby as they strapped him in his carseat…

But it was an awesome family time. We filled up my mom’s house – the college boys, the California son, and our eldest son’s precious wife and Aiden.

Space was at a premium, but there was no shortage of love.

Hope your last couple of weeks have been joyous ones.

Happiest of New Years to you!

It's All About Family: Friday's Fave Five

June 4, 2010 Happy Friday!

It's time to revisit this week's blessings, and my week was full of them. If you'd like to join in, be sure to visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story to get details.

Here are this week's favorites for me. It's all about family!

1. Graduation Week. That's what this week is at our house, and it's so much fun. I look around at Baccalaureate and see moms I stood outside the kindergarten door with, waiting for our kids to emerge. Most of us held another baby, pushed a stroller, or corralled our bigger boys until the kindergartner was set free. Seeing these moms who have been on the same journey as mine and knowing their heart is feeling the same things mine is right now is a special kinship. We're proud, excited and trying oh-so-hard to let go!

2. Family dinners. What a great time has been had around the dinner table this week as everyone has been home. Sure, we've had to have a late dinner and an early one to make everything happen, but it's been so worth it. The other night the boys started "Remember when..." and we all laughed till our full bellies hurt. It was great.

3. My mom. My mom made the long trip to Florida to see her grandson graduate, and we're so glad she's here. She is, too! It's always a little hard for her to decide to leave home and embark on such an adventure, but she just had to see this boy graduate. It' s been great having her here and in on everything.

4. My sweet hubby. He's been a blessing this week (as usual) because he has taken up the slack when I had to be at school. I'd come home and he was already there, getting things organized. We haven't had as much time together as usual this week and we've both missed it, but seeing him enjoy the boys so much is great fun, and so worth it.

5. The graduate. You always wonder how they'll turn out. The youngest of four boys has so much working on him. So much has been accomplished by his brothers that you hope he'll have room to find himself. We tried so hard to let each one "be his own boy" and it seems to have somehow worked out that way. (Grace...) We are so proud of our graduate -- the young man he is and will become. (Blinking away tears as I type.)

What more can I say? What a week!

Looking Back at Blessings: Friday's Fave Five

May 28, 2010 Happy Friday! What a week this has been for me. Lots of fun and excitement…as you can tell from the lack of posts this week. I’ve been off chaperoning the Senior Trip with 58 soon-to-be graduates. We had a great time and I accumulated lots of writing ideas, too. You’ll be hearing about our trip for a while.

If you’re a faithful FFF-er and didn’t hear from me last Friday, it was because I was on a bus with the aforementioned 58 kids. I’ll be sure to visit you this weekend.

If you’re new to Friday’s Fave Five and would like to know how to join in, visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story for all the details.

Now, on to this past week’s blessings.

1. Home. What a fun week it was, but it’s always so good to get home to your own bed, your own shower, and a dear hubby. We traveled a lot of miles, too, so I’m thankful for safety on the road as well.

2. A great job. I’m so blessed to be able to share in the lives of kids. It’s neat to look around a campfire at faces full of hope and promise and know that these students will be scattering all across the nation. They’ll take their talents, their compassion, and their faith with them – and It’s a blessing to have been a little part of their lives.

3. Family gatherings. We have one coming up, so next week will be another full and exciting week. My senior son graduates next week, and all the family is coming in. We’re already busy getting ready and I can’t wait to have a full house!

4. Lessons learned. I gathered plenty of writing fodder this week, and I’ll be posting more about that in the coming week. “Lessons Learned from the Class of 2010,” perhaps.

Here’s just a quick one from our climb up a mountain. If you keep your eyes glued to the path, you’ll miss the miracles along the way. We climbed and climbed, and then…we stopped to rest. There was so much to see. Beautiful tiny waterfalls, an occasional lone purple flower, the incredible pattern of a leaf canopy. Slow down and take in the beauty along the path.

5. Words of wisdom. I finished a Jane Kirkpatrick novel this week, and I noted this quote: “It isn’t the perfect pose that matters…but how one adapts. This is a lesson we keep relearning, for we really control so little – our attitudes and choices.”

How we value the perfect pose; we often see our adapting as second best. When we remember that we do control so little, we can be empowered by what we do control – our attitudes and our choices. And our adaptations are proof that we’re learning from the past. Our desire for our own perfection is so overrated.

Hope you had a great week. Thanks for visiting. Would love to hear from you!

Happy Friday,