Thankful Thursday & Rituals

I am thankful for life today.
My life, of course, and the life of my first born, in particular.
Twelve years ago today she came into our world.
When I close my eyes, I can remember it like it was yesterday.
I've been blessed to be with her almost every day of those 12 years.
She's funny and creative, introspective and thoughtful.
She enjoys creating and being in nature.
She's curious about the world around her and goes 'all-in' on subjects she's interested in.
She's becoming such a wonderful young woman already.
I'm so proud of her and can't image my life without her.

Today I'm thankful that she's in our lives.

Blessed born day my sweet girl.

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The children and I have a weekly ritual of sharing the things we're thankful for aloud at the end of each week.  Just the other day I found this creative way to visibly display the things we're thankful for.  You can read more here.  I decided to take this idea but change it a bit to make it more conducive for our space.  I like finding other ways to incorporate new ideas into our way of being.  So, instead of a 'thankful tree' we've created a thankfulness garland of sorts.  Perhaps this will trigger ideas of how you can take this idea and make it your own.

I recently re-read a favorite reference book, Calm and Compassionate Children by Susan Usha Dermond, with some mommies in my homeschooling community.  One of the things the author shares is the difference between rituals and routines.  Routines are things our children can do alone, yet rituals are practices that we involve our children in with us.  The key to creating rituals is involving our children in them.  Like our being thankful ritual at home, and the one here on the blog, we also have rituals around birthdays.  These practices involve each of us and are something we look forward to year after year.

What are you thankful for today?  What rituals have you created with your children to put being thankful into practice?  I'd love to hear from you so take a moment to comment below.  Thanks so much.

Be well.