Gratitude

With what feels like a sprint from Halloween to Christmas, I often feel the real meaning of Thanksgiving is lost. As the host for our family Thanksgiving this year, appropriately now referred to as #Turkeypalooza, I want to help everyone to stop and take pause.
grat·i·tude – ˈɡradəˌt(y)o͞od/
noun
1. the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.

Over the years I have heard different ideas for how people share what makes them feel grateful. Time and time again, I hear the same sentiments and while I know it is with sincerity that we are all happy for the health and family that we do have, I know we can also all dig a little deeper.

I saw this idea (yes, thank you Pinterest) and decided that we would try a Gratitude Scavenger Photo Hunt. Throughout the month of November, I have challenged our family to spend a little extra time thinking about those happy moments. The idea here is to not only get to see more photos of each other, but to really share what we find joy in each and every day.

We modified the photo hunt to be meaningful to the entire family, from toddler to grandparent.

photo (68)

Our rules are simple:

  • Each member needs to take a photo for each of the 8 gratitude scavenger items
  • The family member needs to be in at least 6 of the 8 photos (SELFIE!)
  • All submissions are due in advance of Thanksgiving
  • The photos will all be shown to the entire family following dinner in a photo slide show

As a parent, it was fun to see each of my children’s personality come shining through with this challenge. My natural born leader decided he could sit down and answer all 8 instantly. While it was the opposite for my other son, he has been a bit more reflective and weighs the meaning of different answers. Not to mention, changed his photo choices several times.

I would be lying to say I wasn’t flattered when I was thought to be more than one answer. Most importantly, the kids really did get the meaning of the challenge and have taken pause more than once over the last three weeks to change their answer or ask for me to take their picture and capture their special moment.

I look forward to collecting all of these happy moments from my family and I do hope the slideshow will be memorable for all. I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Listening to:  Time for Turkey on Spotify – I needed to find the perfect song for the video slideshow!

Drinking: We do have snow now, so it’s officially Hot Toddy season!

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