After having what is best described as a 'challenging' day with the children last week (and they would probably say I was being rather challenging too), I decided we needed a calm activity to do in the afternoon. I found our trusty roll of newsprint and a jar of coloured pens and we worked on this poster together: 'We are thankful for...'
The idea for this was heavily inspired by Soulemama's book that arrived a few weeks ago: helping our children acknowledge that which they are thankful for. It's something that I think is especially important in a family like mine, because even though I was brought up in quite a religious/spiritual family myself, the habit of 'praying' in a Christian sense is not something that Tom and I have chosen to do with our children.
Thus, the 'thankful' list was a really nice activity to do together. And it certainly helped put my angsty feelings into perspective that day. While Arlo decided he was most thankful for trains in the world, he also drew portraits of his seven grandparents, aunts and uncles, the alphabet, his friends, kindergarten, soccer and cake. Keira's list included: eggs that hatch, milk, the night sky, lemons and mud.
