Gratitude

I am the worst at getting around to sending Thank You notes. The worst.  I don't know why, exactly, since I feel heaps of gratitude for every type of kindness.  I should just sit down right away and express my thanks in writing, but I always put it off, and put it off, until sometimes it is embarrassingly late to thank somebody for something.  I know there's no statute of limitations on gratitude, but there's no excuse for lagging when it comes to telling someone how much you appreciate their thoughtfulness.  

Since I don't want the kids to turn into Thank You procrastinators, I thought I'd try to make an event of saying thanks, so we had a little "Thank You Celebration" today.  The "celebration" aspect was pretty basic – some popcorn and favorite music at the kitchen table – but it got us all gathered around and creating some cards to put in the mail. Clara never really needs any prodding to do this type of thing, because she loves anything to do with writing.  Trevor is another story.  The popcorn bribe was key.  Midway through, he declared, "All this writing is making me hot!", so he spent most of the celebration shirtless.

Clara got on such a roll that she even thanked the editors of American Girl Mini-Mysteries. Love that girl.

I have a little plan up my sleeve to make Thank You Celebrations a regular occurrence in our household.