The Culmination of 30 Days of Gratitude

As our 30 days of gratitude culminates we are gathered in the kitchen to help our daughter complete her thank you notes for family and friends. What a beautiful way to complete our 30 days, together helping a family member complete her notes of gratitude towards family and friends.

Our family has truly enjoyed the past 30 days and we hope your family has as well. We have received so much more in return for our small acts of kindness, it seems like the outlook in our home has become more positive and encouraging.

Our son asked, “Do we have to stop our gratitude attitude now that November is over?” To which I replied, “How would that make you feel if we stopped doing nice things for others?” As he looked at me with pure disgust he exclaimed “That would make me feel not happy, I like to help, and I am a good helper”. I gave him a big hug and stated that I agreed. So, it has been decided, in our home an attitude of gratitude is not something we merely express during the month of Thanksgiving but year round.

An attitude of Gratitude has become a way of life for our family and we hope this is true in your family as well. Remember that gratitude, no matter how small or large the act is gratitude no less.

We have collated some of our acts of kindness from the past 30 days to share.

socks 001 — Hannah’s Socks, a non-profit organization founded by a young Toledo girl to help homeless, victims of domestic violence, and underprivileged children. http://www.hannahssocks.org.

http://www.hannahssocks.org

th 001 — Good Egg awards- I like expressing my gratitude to my children this way. It is important that as parents we address and reward the good behavior, not just address the bad.

treasures 019 — Image of Crunch Krispies on a stick, for the bake sale to raise funds for Special Olympics

pilgrims 014 — Preparing a meal to take to a friend

pilgrims 025 — A surprise visit to a family member’s home (Tip- if you are visiting an elderly person, or someone without children, bring something for your children to do, it is your responsibility as the parent to occupy your children’s time).

pilgrims 018 — Kiddos helped make muffins for a friend.

myasbday 017 — Toby our Gratitude Turkey, it was fun listening to the things each child was grateful for and helping them sound out and spell the words. We are going to miss that turkey; he is packed away for next year.

myasbday 029 — Thanksgiving package for friends that live out-of-town, kiddos had fun picking out the card and stickers

myasbday 014 — Dropped off donations at the Animal Shelter

myasbday 019 — Bubbba was adorable, an 8 year-old Labrador. I wanted to take him home but my house is very small as it is with only one Labrador. We did pray that Bubba found a safe and happy home with a family to play with him.

myasbday 018 — Sassy was also cute. Again, it was so tough walking away from those cages. If you are a family looking to expand your family by four-legs, do consider stopping by your local shelter first. There are some amazing animals there, some have even been trained but the owners lost their homes or moved.

halloween2011 043 — Kiddos donated their candy to Make-a-Wish

And many more….

Though I enjoyed all the larger acts of kindness we shared as a family what truly moved me was watching my children illustrate small acts of kindness towards each other. I enjoyed watching my four-year-old Power Ranger rushing over to help his one-year-old baby sister get back up and placed her crown back on her head after she slipped on her princess dress. I enjoyed listening to a conversation between our six-year-old and four-year-old where one gave their favorite toy to the other to borrow (there were some stipulations of course). But the fact that they are learning to illustrate kindness towards their siblings makes this mom so grateful. I leave you with the following quote and hope you will share some of your family’s acts of kindness and reflect on how the exercise affected your daily activities and life in general.

There is not a more pleasing exercise of the mind than gratitude. It is accompanied with such an inward satisfaction that the duty is sufficiently rewarded by the performance. ~Joseph Addison

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