I awkwardly crawl into the small bit of open space in her tiny twin bed that’s not overrun by stuffed animals, as I do every night. But tonight, with little wiggle room left I let out a animalistic grunt before plopping down beside her.
Her big blue eyes twinkle as she looks my way and lets out a belly laugh so large it doesn’t stop for at least 30 seconds.
She stops and I grunt again.
More laughter.
I know in my reasonable parenting mind that I should be winding her down for our bedtime routine. We are both exhausted after a full day of toddler living. I start thinking about the tubs of playdoh strew across kitchen table that need to be put away, the used stickers that look like a cookie crumb trail running in circles on our main floor, and the midday tantrum that turned my sweet little girl into a raging psychotic straight out of a horror film.
But right now there’s that laugh. Oh her laugh. Toddler giggles are hard resist.
So we laugh together for the next 5 minutes.
The days are long, but the years are short is what the parenting experts (aka my older and wiser mommy friends) tell me.
And in this moment, I embrace the sentiment.
I am grateful.
Which is a hard emotion to stand by on these days of playdoh messes, sticker trails, and psychotic tantrums.
But I try. As we’re laughing I realize how grateful I am for her belly laughs, the 6 cups of coffee that kept me awake all day, the mommy friends I call when adult conversation is a post tantrum necessity, and the joy I receive from simply being her mom.
After we’ve laughed so hard our bellies hurt, I wonder if she’s feeling grateful in this moment too.
So I ask, “What made you happy today, my love?”
And without skipping a beat she shares, “Playing with playdoh and stickers and mommy.”
My heart melts.
As I tuck her into bed, blow her kisses and say a final, “Goodnight” I run downstairs to photograph the parts of our day I see as messy, but make her feel loved.
This memory is at the forefront of my thoughts as we round the corner from October into the mad dash of the ‘holiday season’. Where it becomes too hectic to stop and embrace small moments of gratitude as we race between shopping excursions, parties, family gatherings, and all the day to day stuff in-between.
But isn’t this also the time of year where being present, mindful, and grateful becomes the most important?
This week at CWK Alissa and I want issue a challenge. A gratitude photo challenge. We want you to invite in the opportunity to embrace gratitude in your parenting.
This challenge does not require a fancy camera, or a lot of time and effort. It simply requires a conversation between you and your child. A chance for you to find a break in your day to connect and capture a moment in the process.
Here’s what we’d like you to do:
1) Find a moment of calm and quiet in your day.
2) Grab a piece of paper, talk with your kids about the idea of gratitude, and make a list of 3-5 things you each are grateful for. With younger ones, gratitude might be a BIG word, so simply asking them what makes them happy will work too.
3) Take photos of those things together. Your gratitude list and theirs.
4) Post one of your photos in the photo gallery by unploading it in the comments.
As an extra layer of encouragement, for those who share their results, we’re hosting a contest where one CWK gratitude photo participant will receive:
- The Ebook: Conversation Starters: Listening Now So Kids Will Keep Talking Later
Written by Alissa Marquess and CWK contributor Lorien Van NessIf building trust and openness into your relationship is a high priority in your parenting, then you’ll really want to practice the skills presented in Conversation Starters. This little book packs a lot of information about overcoming difficulties in conversations with your children, and will be one you may want to return many times as you try out the conversation starters we include.
- A 30 minute photo coaching consult with Beryl. No matter what camera you own, Beryl has tips and tricks up her sleeve that will have you enthusiastic and excited to take better photos. During this one on one call Beryl will offer suggestions for your top photo frustrations and give you some new techniques for taking beautiful photos of your family and life.
The ‘Gratitude Photo Challenge’ will be open until November 12th and a winner will be announced and contacted by email on November 13th.
Now go get to connecting, get to photographing, get to sharing in the comments here, and good luck!
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I’m not really entering, just getting this party started! Here’s a collage of images from a recent ‘gratitude girls night’ I had with Brielle. We painted with watercolors and watched Aladdin together with popcorn and candy to boot. Can’t wait to see how all the other CWKers connect with their kids this week too. xo.
our gratitude collage
Here is a pic of a recent night my kids spontaneously started playing “barber shop” with me in the hallway. This was totally their idea and we had never done it before. I had many things on my mind that I felt I should be doing (laundry, dishes, picking up
toys, baths, etc), but luckily I realized I was doing EXACTLY what I should be doing – playing barber shop with my kids on the hallway floor. It was awesome. Moments like those are priceless and I’m sure I’ll remember it fondly when they are older and don’t want to play with Mommy anymore. 🙂 Thanks for starting this thread!
You all look SO HAPPY! So awesome that you caught it on camera. Love love love.
Such a sweet collage – you can just see the spontaneous joy! 😀
We had a recent family camping holiday – at the snow & at the beach. My children loved catching snowflakes on their tongues & watching the sun rise over the ocean
What a fun moment you captured! I used to love doing this as a kid too. 🙂
Haha! Catching snowflakes on your tongue is definitely one of life’s simple joys.
After a long trip to visit my sick mother in the hospital I turn to see this. They reminded me to take a breath and be thankful.
Beautiful. xo.
I’m not entering either, but thought I’d share a gratitude picture for fun. These two have a funny and loving relationship I am so grateful for. She calls him her little dog and while sometimes he is less than thrilled about being squeezed and carried around, I’m pretty sure she is his little girl.
Tonight, at bedtime, we “celebrated” the baby’s 5th month “birthday”. Each month he wears his onesie noting how old he is (1 month, 2 months, etc); the same onesies that his two big brothers wore when they were the same age, and all three boys snuggle up for a picture. Hanging in the hallway to the bedrooms are the 1-12 pictures of the oldest, then 1-12 pictures of the middle WITH his big brother, so of course #3 is subject to the same monthly ritual, only this time, all 3 are in the pictures. Following the monthly picture, the big boys enjoyed some drawing – the oldest favorite nightly activity, while the baby snuggled on the floor with me smiling. We had lots of laughs and snuggles. Finally, a stress-free and fun bedtime 🙂
My son LOVES going outside! I had a million things to do today but set it all aside to go outside with him. He stands at the door, pointing and saying “door, door”. Which means “I want to go outside NOW!” I know if he could tell me (he’s only 16 months) he would say how grateful he was for our time outside. I’m so grateful for being able to be a SAHM and capture moments like this!
One of my boys is making a book of his bear, S’mores, doing all of the things he imagines he does…hence the pic with my earrings, obviously S’mores is a robber. Hahaha
We have toys sitting around constantly, messy? Yes, but I actually appreciate the mess, it means the children are here! 🙂
And, here are the pictures..
maybe the bear picture is here…. I love technology!
When I pick up my son and come home in the evenings we enjoy spending time together as a family. This includes all of our four legged family members. Liam is quick to mention his beloved animals when we talk about things we are grateful for.
And here is another one.
I spent some time today talking with my twin 3-y-o sons about being thankful. They really seemed to understand the concept best when we talked about things that they love and people that they love. We spent the morning baking cupcakes for the people that they love and spent the afternoon delivering the cupcakes to the people they are “thankful” for.