I am so giving thanks

I do try to embrace the spirit of gratefulness in my everyday life. So having a special holiday to celebrate giving thanks always seems like a wonderful idea every time it comes around. Writing a thanksgiving post seems monumental to me, though. Where do I even start?

Yesterday I took my 8yo son to the grocery store for some last minute items. While taking two little boys to the grocery store is an opportunity to exercise an epic amount of patience, taking just one of my boys is a positively delightful chance to connect and help each other. Instead of the big rolling cart, I grabbed a hand basket and asked my son to carry it (ensuring I would only get the few items I came for because he would have to carry them). We got the three things we came in for, plus an extra head of lettuce, and we headed for the front. All the fifteen or so checkout lanes were open and it was bustling. And when we chose a line, we shared this moment. He said something (what was it, I can’t remember, but it’s unimportant) and I smiled at him and he smiled back – pure in-the-moment-ness and the simple pleasure of being together and accomplishing our task.

There is nothing very special or funny about that story, which is why I’m sharing it. It was just one of life little perfections which could be forgotten altogether if we didn’t take the time to notice it.

My other son, my 10yo had a book project for school where he had to make a board game with events from a book he had read. He turned that in last week. But he was inspired enough to make another board game at home over the weekend, just for fun. He asked me to play it with him that evening. After dinner, we sat down together and played his game. It is pretty simple: you roll one dice and move your marker; and some spaces have either a smiley face or a frowny face. If you land on a smiley face you get roll again and move forward. If you land on a frowny face you roll again and move backward. The catch is that one person plays the “evil guy” and if they land on a space marked with a 1 or a 2 they get to roll a corresponding 1 or 2 marbles and try and knock the other person off the board and then that one has to go back to the nearest ‘checkpoint’. But they may also accidentally knock themselves off and be forced back to a checkpoint.

I was ahead in the beginning, but then knocked myself off and kept getting sent back with the frowny face spaces and my son won in the end. We groaned together when one of us would get knocked off or sent back and we laughed about it. We had a fun time.

A few days ago, I walked home from work in the afternoon. The sky was pretty with the sun shining and fluffy clouds floating around. The air was cool and fresh. When I got to my house, my husband was outside playing basketball with our boys. I stood at the bottom of the driveway and watched them, before they noticed me. And my heart swelled with joy and thankfulness. My guys. My little corner of the world where everything was right and good. And when they did eventually look over and see me, my younger son rushed over and embraced me with enthusiasm.

There is so much more I am grateful for, too. Hot running water, the moon, the cuteness that is our pet rabbit hopping around the living room, the sound of frogs croaking, a working washer and dryer, cozy slippers, my new job, high speed internet, good health. I’m especially thankful for good health. And Universe – I’m going to go ahead and be preemptively grateful for a work schedule in December that will allow me to go see my sister and my step-brother and his wife on Christmas this year. Please make that happen, Universe. Thanks.

What are you thankful for this year?

ETA: PICKLES I loooove pickles! I’m very thankful for pickles.