It seemed a little nuts, but a couple months ago I decided to add another step to the dinner routine: saying grace, followed by each of us naming something we're thankful for.
It's one of my favorite parts of our day.
The two-year old leads us in grace as we hold hands, a little prayer of thanks that came from my family, who adopted it from dear friends:
God is good, God is great
We thank him for our food, family, and friends.
Amen.
Simple and sweet, it gives us that moment to come together and give thanks.
And then we go around and each say something specific we're thankful for. Hearing a two-year-old's gratitude is funny and sometimes poignant. Some days it's simple: she's thankful for burritos and her toys or chairs and plates.
Other days, she gets a little deeper. "I'm thankful I'm in my house with my mommy and daddy." or "I'm thankful for all my family: Gramma and Vou and Nonni and Papa and Uncle Michael and Aunt Katie and Uncle Dean and my cousins." Or "I'm thankful I had a fun day at daycare and that we're home together now."
And at just two-and-a-half, she's learning gratitude and appreciation- she gets it, as much as she can. I'm amazed at what she understands at this age. Last night, Pat went to the grocery store. He came home, and E said: "Thank you, daddy, for going to the store in the cold to get us food." Nearly every time I serve her a snack or a meal she thanks me - beyond just "thank you," she'll say things like "thank you, mommy, for making me this yummy food." Teaching gratitude is one of my big parenting missions, so I'm proud of her making it a habit so early. Maybe she doesn't fully understand it yet (it's a lifelong lesson, isn't it?), but it's part of her daily routine.
It's been popular recently to give public daily thanks in November. I know that every day I have so much to be grateful for, and that sometimes I forget that. Nightly grace and gratitude has given our family a moment to acknowledge what we have, together.
