Thankfuls

In my family's opinion, "thankfuls" are the favorite of all traditions!  Every Saturday we have a family sabbath. A full day of rest. No cleaning. No activities with friends. Family fun only, whether that be time at the beach (almost every Saturday), bowling, bookstore, or park. Then we have family dinners together....on the couch. Casual is more our style. Then we end our restful and fun day by getting cozy by the fire in the backyard and saying our thankfuls.  We start out making s'mores by the fire. Don't get me wrong, this experience isn't exactly easy. I'm constantly telling the kids in my overbearing mom voice to "stay away from the fire". Can you really say that any activity with kids isn't part fun part crazy???  

Anyways, our thankfuls go from oldest to youngest, this includes parents. My husband starts by saying what he's thankful for about each one of us from that week. We've found it important for our kids to hear that we do see the good and special in them each week, not just a generalized statement. This continues with the next oldest and so on. Sometimes we end up saying more serious things we are thankful for, like "how sweet it was when they took care of their sibling when they got a boo boo". Other time it's very silly things, like "when sissy shook her booty at me because it made me laugh so hard".  The idea is simple, but the fruit that comes from it is much greater! Every time our girls hear something special about themselves, their self esteem is boosted and their hearts are happy! The girls have not only felt happy about hearing what each other loves about them, but they have now learned to love celebrating what they love about everyone else.

They have learned to search for the good in their sisters even when they've been fighting that day.

They've learned to focus on the positive rather than the negative. What started as a simple idea has now become our greatest family tradition!  Traditions don't need to be extravagant. They don't need to have tons of money thrown at them. The special events that kids remember growing up and ones they cherish most are the ones they got to spend quality time with their loved ones. So have fun and stay positive!!!  

Much love!