Friday, November 22, 2013

Day 22 of the Think Thankfully 30 Day Gratitude Challenge


Hard to believe we are on Day 22 of this whirlwind 30 day challenge. I woke up this morning and had absolutely nothing in my head I wanted to write about. It kind of worried me, because I have enjoyed sitting down and writing my blog before I even leave for work this morning. In the middle of the night, I woke up and wrote the one for Thanksgiving Day. Yes, I realize it is a few days away, but I wrote it already. For some reason THAT message was gnawing at me.

Anyway, I left for work and still hadn't had any great revelations for blogging. I was on a bit of a cloud nine because I only worked a half day today. I thought maybe that was actually clouding my thought process. I went about my morning and at 11:00am, the inspiration hit me smack in the face!  It came in the form of the above image.

My wee ones have been working on something very secret while in group for the past two weeks. We (my classroom staff and I) were NOT to know what this big surprise was. Now, normally I would bug my wee ones to tell me, heck I might even bribe them but not this time. I decided to wait it out. Each day they went to group and came back all smiles and all they would say was, "Ms Allyson just you WAIT til you see your surprise!" I was getting so excited!!!! And today at 11:00am, I got my surprise.

Our wonderful Mental Health team worked hard with the wee ones to understand what BEING THANKFUL meant. They created the turkey above and if you look closely, the feathers are their hands. On those hands are the things my wee ones are thankful for in school. The belly of the turkey reads: Your little turkeys Ms A. THANK YOU!!! I can not even begin to tell you the emotion that came over me as I read each and every little handprint feather on that turkey. "Thank you for teaching me math" "Thank you for being silly" "Thank you for working with me" and the one that got me the most was "Thank you for walking us out to the bus to say goodbye each day"  I stood there with tears welling in my eyes. And all I could think about was THINK THANKFULLY is alive and well in the hearts of my wee ones. It was (and still is) a bit much for this tenderhearted gal (as I am sitting here in tears writing this). I knew at that moment, THIS was the premise of my blog.

I'm urging you to live a more thankful life for what it will do to YOU, but really, look at the trickle down effect it may have on wee ones in YOUR life. I show my wee ones appreciation each day. I let them know how thankful I am for their behaviors (when they are good, of course). I drill manners into them each and every day and it is starting to show in them. When they were asked WHY they did this, the response was, "To thank you for all you do for us, that you really don't HAVE to do." THAT is what true thankfulness is all about. The understanding and expression of gratitude for things that are not automatically given. The little things. I'm still in awe of this turkey and it WILL be displayed in my classroom all year through, because living a more thankful life shouldn't just happen in November!!!!

And the cupcakes were a nice touch......YUM!

THINK THANKFULLY!!!!

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