A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that my family and I create thankful leaves during the month of November as part of our Thanksgiving traditions. I wanted to pause, this week of Thanksgiving, to let you know some of the things my kids have written.
First off, though, let me state how much fun it is to have kids who can actually write now. It took us a while, but to see everyone’s different handwriting and hear the voice of my kids ringing through their thankful leaves is something I should write on one of my own thankful leaves. When friends and family have stopped by, they’ve stared at our window filled with construction-paper leaves and read various reasons why all four of us are so grateful this season.
For my older daughter, she immediately puts that she is thankful for her family and for Jesus. In fact, on her first thankful leaf, she decided to write as much as she could with, “My cousins, my family, my dog, friends, my teachers, the church, and the trinity.” Apparently our outdoor cat didn’t make the cut, but I digress. Some of my other favorites of hers were “I’m thankful for my free country” (written on Veterans Day from last week) and “I’m thankful for my school.” Can I just pause a moment and say how grateful I am that she loves her school and teachers so much? Granted, she’s not very grateful at that 6:15 a.m. wakeup call, but the fact that she loves school so much is so wonderful.
My little one really got into the thankful leaves this season. Generally we try to write one a day, but I’m pretty sure she’s done two or three a day – and they reflect her sweet little personality so much. One day, after she had cut her finger and her sister had given her a band-aid, she wrote, “My sister healing my thumb” — only because she’s so young, she actually wrote, “haling my thum” but that’s as precious as it gets. She also has written, “I like how (friend in her class) is funny” and “I like how (another friend) is sweet.” She’s also had some darling ones, such as, “I love how we share love” and “I love you all!”
We still have a few days before Thanksgiving, and while we will no doubt be decorating for Christmas by the time you read this column (yes, I’m that person who decorates early), I think I’m going to leave the thankful leaves up a little more – maybe even add some thankful snowflakes to the mix. After all, that might be the best white Christmas we can get.
