Dinner time. It’s my very favorite time of the day. The time leading up to dinner is a frenzy. Adam gets home from work. Throws the kids around and plays {he’s good at it:)}. I retreat to the kitchen. Turn on some Norah Jones after a day of Laurie Berkner. Light a fall candle. Sometimes I crack open a diet Coke to take the edge off. Finish cooking. Get out plates and such. “Plate” the food. Fill up cups. And by 6ish, we are all sitting down at the table.
It doesn’t matter what we’re eating. It could be a new Pinterest recipe, something from my mom’s cookbook, Food Network Magazine, or takeout. Absolutely does not matter. It’s my favorite time.
As soon as we sit down, one or both of us ask Barrett, “B. What are you thankful for today?”
I don’t know when it started but for what I’d guess to be about a year, we’ve been asking Barrett to share his thanks for the day.
“B. What are you thankful for?”
Barrett always replies, “Ah, I’m fankul foooor …” and the things that follow are just hilarious. Because friends, this is the good stuff. And toddlers are just hysterical. Each day what he’s thankful for is different. But it goes something like this…
“These strawberries on my plate. This yogurt. This…what is this?”
“Enchiladas.”
“For these enchiradas. For daddy. For getting to go to Moni’s. For the ‘cadia. For going on a walk that time. And for salsa. And I’m not fankul for aaaanyfing else.”
Nearly every day he does the round robin on what’s on his plate. And he’s thankful for most of it. And he’s usually thankful for one or both of us. Almost always for Jonah. Sometimes for the weather outside. Others for a certain toy. For pre-school. For his Spider-Man shirt. For a certain friend. Or grandparent, cousin, aunt or uncle. For going to something. Singing a song. Having a snack after nap. Or anything that happened “yesterday” {Yesterday is Barrett speak for anytime prior to 10 minutes ago}. Daddy coming home from work. Watching a show. Having a purple crayon.
It’s inspirational. He’s thankful for all the small things that come to mind. Literally. And at the end of his laundry list, he almost always finishes with, “And I’m not fankul for aaaanyfing else”. Then turns to one of us and says, “Mommy/Daddy what are you fankul for?”.
Adam and I then go through the same exercise. Sharing what was good about our day. How lucky we are for having such good friends/family/purple crayons…or just how grateful we feel to have made it through the day. We then ask Jonah but he just stares at us and sometimes grunts. And then we sing our prayer.
There is little perfection in life. In fact, there is none, I suppose. But if it does exist, this is ours. These precious, unharried moments we have. As a family. Around our table. Sharing gratitude. And while it started as something to help him develop an attitude of gratitude, it’s been just as valuable lesson for us. Stopping, breathing, thinking and talking about what we are thankful for. Each day. You just never know what the next will bring.
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