It's November and people are realizing how close we are getting to the holidays. One of my favorites is definitely Thanksgiving because it means family and friends... and food. But mostly it's because it's a time to reflect on all the things we have to be thankful for. Not that we don't do that every day, but it's nice to have a time to celebrate those things together with everyone.
But Thanksgiving is something else for me. It's a deadline. It has been my goal for years to have as much of my Christmas shopping done by 'Turkey Day.' It probably started even before I was married with my own kids. Because I live so far away from my family, I had to have everything done early enough to get it in the mail without paying a fortune to have it delivered by Christmas day.
For our bi-weekly post on One Word At A Time, the group decided on: Remember. I know, for me, this is actually something that's very important. I admit, sometimes to the point of obsession. I'm not sure why, but for some reason I am actually afraid of forgetting.
This is something that became very apparent to me when I became a mommy. I so thoroughly enjoyed being a mom with young little babies. Yes, there were some very hard times and lots of crying on my own part. But really, I loved celebrating all the firsts, no matter how small and unimportant the firsts were to others.
Each year, I think Thanksgiving goes by too quickly. It’s a great day of reflection on what God has done and of appreciation for the people in our lives. I’ve created a list of ten simple things you can do with your children to make your school day a bit happier all month long. Perhaps you’ll find one you like, or a few that you can implement, that will help make this Thanksgiving a celebration that extends from the heart of your homeschool to your neighbors, friends, and family or to the larger community. Have fun!
1. Make a “Thanks” rock ring, by gluing a pipe cleaner to a small stone. Write “Thanks” on the dark stone with metallic marker. Give to a neighbor or friend to let them know you appreciate something about them. Or wear it yourself as a reminder to be thankful!
2. Make a kindness coupon in thanks for a neighbor. “This coupon entitles you to a free lawn raking.” Or “This is good for one free dog walking.”
3. Declare “Neighbor Appreciation Day” in your court or on your street, and share a bag of homemade cookies or a loaf of pumpkin bread wrapped with a pretty ribbon.
4. Make a hand print turkey card. Number each “finger” of the turkey feathers, and list 5 reasons you are thankful for someone.
5. Make a simple bird feeder out of a juice bottle or milk carton. Put a skewer through the bottom for the birds to stand, a wire atop to hang it, and fill with bird seed. Reflect on how God takes care of the birds, and takes care of us. Hang in your yard where you can view from a window.
6. Remember someone in your community who helped you this year, like a librarian, and take a plate of cookies or a homemade loaf of pumpkin bread to her. Label the ribbon or card “We’re thankful for you.”
7. Let the children help you go through your pantry and select a few cans to donate to a food drive in the community. Talk about how it is a blessing to be able to share with others.
8. Donate some lightly used clothes from last fall that your children have outgrown. Let the children help hang them, and then donate to the local Goodwill store or a clothes closet at a church. Tell the volunteers at the clothes closet, “We appreciate what you do to help others.”
9. Photos. For grandparents or a special relative, take some photos of the outdoors and make into a special photo album. Deliver to a relative or someone who has difficulty getting outdoors.
10. Make a short video of your children acting out a favorite story or scene from a story that has to do with sharing , teaching or appreciating. At the end, have them say, “We’re thankful for you.” Send it by email, deliver in person, or send on CD through the postal service.
10 Things to Kick Off the
Season of Thanks
At Your Homeschool
Each year, I think Thanksgiving goes by too quickly.It’s a great day of reflection on what God has done and of appreciation for the people in our lives.I’ve created a list of ten simple things you can do with your children to make your school day a bit happier all month long.Perhaps you’ll find one you like, or a few that you can implement, that will help make this Thanksgiving a celebration that extends from the heart of your homeschool to your neighbors, friends, and family or to the larger community.Have fun!
1.Make a “Thanks” rock ring, by gluing a pipe cleaner to a small stone.Write “Thanks” on the dark stone with metallic marker.Give to a neighbor or friend to let them know you appreciate something about them.Or wear it yourself as a reminder to be thankful!
2.Make a kindness coupon in thanks for a neighbor.“This coupon entitles you to a free lawn raking.” Or “This is good for one free dog walking.”
3.Declare “Neighbor Appreciation Day” in your court or on your street, and share a bag of homemade cookies or a loaf of pumpkin bread wrapped with a pretty ribbon.
4.Make a hand print turkey card.Number each “finger” of the turkey feathers, and list 5 reasons you are thankful for someone.
5.Make a simple bird feeder out of a juice bottle or milk carton.Put a skewer through the bottom for the birds to stand, a wire atop to hangit, and fill with bird seed.Reflect on how God takes care of the birds, and takes care of us. Hang in your yard where you can view from a window.
6.Remember someone in your community who helped you this year, like a librarian, and take a plate of cookies or a homemade loaf of pumpkin bread to her.Label the ribbon or card “We’re thankful for you.”
7.Let the children help you go through your pantry and select a few cans to donate to a food drive in the community.Talk about how it is a blessing to be able to share with others.
8.Donate some lightly used clothes from last fall that your children have outgrown.Let the children help hang them, and then donate to the local Goodwill store or a clothes closet at a church. Tell the volunteers at the clothes closet, “We appreciate what you do to help others.”
9.For grandparents or a special relative, take some photos of the outdoors and make into a special photo album.Deliver to a relative or someone who has difficulty getting outdoors.
10.Make a short video of your children acting out a favorite story or scene from a story that has to do with sharing , teaching or appreciating.At the end, have them say, “We’re thankful for you.”Send it by email, deliver in person, or send on CD through the postal service.
The greatest gift we can give our children is ourselves or more specifically our time and our attention! Sadly, too many parents think that as long as they give their kids everything they need and want materially that their children will be satisfied. The truth is that this does NOT work. This may work temporarily BUT it will NOT work for the long haul. Our children want us first and foremost. They want our attention. They want our time. Here’s a general principle, whatever we pay attention to is going to grow. If I pay attention to my garden, it’s going to grow. If I pay attention to my kids, they’re going to grow. Here are two simple ways we can give our children our time and our attention:
I suppose I can no longer ignore "Learn to Belly Dance." Belly dancing always sounds like fun. My friend Leslie tried to convince me to take belly dancing lessons with her when they were offered at the community college. I've always rather regretted not taking that class. I imagine that's how "Learn to Belly Dance" ended up on the Year of the Birthday List...
Armed with several video tapes called "Belly Dancing for Beginners," Kate and I drove to Beth's house one fine spring day...
After several attempts to make parts of my body move in directions that they were never designed to move without causing a chain reaction of movement in other parts of my body, I came to the conclusion that belly dancing is not for me.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009 at 4:09PM 
But Thanksgiving is something else for me. It's a deadline. It has been my goal for years to have as much of my Christmas shopping done by 'Turkey Day.' It probably started even before I was married with my own kids. Because I live so far away from my family, I had to have everything done early enough to get it in the mail without paying a fortune to have it delivered by Christmas day.
