(He's) Being Thankful...

In the retail world, we see the in-store holidays go from Halloween directly to Christmas.  After spending a bit of time at our favorite big box store yesterday, we were inundated with Christmas cheer. At bedtime last night, Miss E said something about Halloween being over and now it is time for Christmas! She was super excited and I paused for a moment, almost letting it go...but I couldn't.  I NEED for my kids to be thankful.  Maybe it is one of those maternal instincts or maybe it is just me.  So I added in that before we can really appreciate Christmas, we must remember Thanksgiving and take time to be thankful for all that we have.

Miss E made a comment about being thankful for Santa...but my sweet 7-year old boy quickly said he could think of 10 Things that he was thankful for before he went to bed.  He started thinking and quickly rattled off being thankful for toys...but here is his list in no particular order (with just a smidgen of help from me):
   
1. Toys to play with
2. A nice warm house
3. Computers to play
4. Good food to eat
5. A kind family
6. Books to read
7. Great friends
8. Being healthy (ok I helped here, but he quickly agreed)
9. A good school where he can learn a lot
10. To have a mom and dad since some kids don't (this was all him)
Then this morning he came to me as I was typing added #11. Being thankful for God for creating us and our planet.  We don't go to church so this was somewhat surprising, yet warmed my heart. 

Number 10 though really hit me hard.  He made a point to say it separately from having a kind family--which in itself made me proud.  What a sweet, sweet boy. I am so very thankful for the children I have and can't imagine my world without them.  Being a mom has brought me more joy and love than I could have ever known in this world.

And his comment following seeing his list here..."I'm thankful for more than I am years old"...I think if you can think of enough things to surpass your years, you are doing something right.  I think I might have to sit down myself and see how many things I am thankful for...as I am positive that list would be greater than my own 33 years.