Tree of Thanks

A Lesson for Me.  I am finding personally that there is nothing that will pull me out of a self-pitying mood more than remembering, writing, speaking, claiming, and praying the multitude of things I have to be thankful for.  When I can see that the list of blessings is far longer than the list of desires, the grumbling starts to leave, and a bit more joy is ushered in.

A Practice for All of Us.  And so, to welcome this season of gratitude, a tree graces our living room this month.  A brown construction paper creation with scotch tape peeking from behind edges.  Beside our tree of thanks, we have a little box holding fall-colored leaves, markers, and tape.  The idea is to fill up our tree by Thanksgiving with things that we are grateful for.  The kids and the grown-ups talk about and write and draw pictures of the gifts we've been given, and whenever we notice someone being in a grouchy mood, one of their "disciplines" is to go pick a leaf and claim thankfulness (surprisingly, they like it better than a time-out).

And, yes, the tree is a bit ghetto.  I didn't have any cute patterns to follow or a laminated tree to post the leaves on--just jaggedy ovals and lots of tape on a window.  But one thing I have learned as a mom, if you wait until everything is cute and perfect, the project will never get done (at least not in my world). 

So, go ahead and embrace a little ghetto--and a little gratitude-- this month.

Happy weekend to each of you.