Happy Thanksgiving!
I would like to wish all my friends overseas a very happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy the times with your family!
Here in Europe we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving. It’s a typical American holiday and most people over here only know it from the movies. I got to know it better since I began scrapbooking and joining CT’s, lol, because every year I get to scrap with Thanksgiving kits for them. And I’m really glad that I got to know it because I think it is such a meaningful holiday!
Having to scrap with Thanksgiving kits is great because it makes me stand still to think about the things I’m grateful for as well. We live in a self-centered, material society and so many people feel unhappy about the things they don’t have that we almost forget to be grateful for all the treasures we do have. I’m thankful for having a good health and a wonderful family who is in good health as well. I’m thankful for so many other things and every year a scrapbook page is added to my memory keeping that documents this. This is something I wouldn’t have done if it weren’t for my CT work. So I’m grateful for that as well.
The other day I was surfing on Pinterest (again!) and I found this great idea on the website lillightomine.com. This lady has invented the ‘Light ’em up project‘. If you haven’t heard about it, you should definitely go check out her blog. Basicly what she’s doing is teaching her kids to do Random Acts of Kindness for others and to thank people who serve them every day all through the month of December. You could do it as a variation on the Advent Calendar and have them do a RAK every day, or you could just put a bunch of RAK’s in a bowl and have them grab one occasionally through the year. There are even teachers who have adapted her idea to use it in the classroom.
photo from www.lillightomine.com
She provides a list of 50 possible RAK’s you could do with your kids but once you read through them, lots of other possibilities will pop up in your head. Some of her examples for showing gratitude are:
- Leaving a small present and a thank you note for the people who pick up your trash every week.
- Leaving an anonymous chalk message on the driveway of your neighbours to thank them for being such great neighbours.
- Leaving a note in the public restroom thanking the person that cleans that stall
- Leaving a note and a treat in your mailbox for the postman
- Thanking your local police station with a heartfelt note and Christmas treat
- Clean up an elderly neighbor’s yard
- Pick up and put away all of the carts in the parking lot at any store in your area
- Take a toy (or a bag full) to donate
- Tape quarters to bubble gum machines
