I would like do something special with my family throughout the month of November to inspire thankful, grateful attitudes in all of us. We have really been taking each other for granted lately. Do any ot you have suggestions that have worked well in your families?
Each day you could each write something you are thankful for on a slip of paper and put it in a jar. Then on Thanksgiving open the jar and read all the blessings you have out loud.
Volunteering in a soup kitchen - showing just how good you have it.
Helping out at a retirement home - visiting those who don't have family anymore.
volunteering at a food pantry.
Take the lead on a food gathering project for the needy for your church.
Adopt a family that is in need.
If you are near a military base? Call the MWR office or even one of the Base Chaplains to find out if you can adopt a junior member of the base for Thanksgiving or Christmas....
There's much you can do. Look beyond your door. Contact your local charities - find out what they need...clothes? blankets? winter jackets? Take the lead and make it a family project.
Over dinner? Talk about what you are grateful for. Make a memory tree of special memories the family has done.
Hope that helps!
Some friends on FB have been posting something they're thankful for everyday - could you do something where at dinner (or breakfast, or whenever you're all together) you go around and share something you're thankful for? Your gratitude can be family-focused and the kids might pick up the hint and spontaneously also share their gratitude for their siblings and parents.
Are you a part of an organization such as a church that does meals for the homeless? This month our church's homeless meal will be a Thanksgiving dinner a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving. I'm providing stuffing and pie and will have my kids help make both.
Another thing going on is that one of our kids' schools is doing a food drive this week and in the spirit of Thanksgiving, we're being extra generous and are sending in items every day.
I know that the last two items are about community thanks, but sometimes helping the world outside of our home makes all of us more grateful for what we have, including each other.
I haven't tried this yet, but I love the idea of a "thankful tree." The idea is that you make a paper tree, or get creative and use branches or something to make a "tree," and every day you write something you are thankful for on a paper leaf and hang it on the tree. My girls are young but I hope to start doing it soon. In fact, now that you have reminded me - maybe we will start this year!
During the month of November we do the "today I am thankful for" at dinner each night.
A lot of my FB friends are doing a "thirty days of thanks" program, announcing to the world something they're thankful for each day.
How can you adapt that to your house? Can everybody write a note to a family member or friend each day, telling that person one thing he/she is thankful for? "Dear Mama, I'm thankful that you wake me up in time for school." "Dear Kevin, I'm thankful that you are my friend and we play together on the playground." Just little notes. Writing them to others helps with communicating thankfulness as well as feeling thankful - which are two different things, actually.
One of the pastors we had at the church I grew up in encouraged us to write thank you letters to people who had made an impact on our life during the past year. It could be a family member, friend, neighbor, teacher, doctor, store clerk who always went out of the way to greet us, etc.
