With Halloween over and Christmas sneaking up, sometimes Thanksgiving can take a backseat when it comes to our families.
Difficult Mommy blogger Melissa Sackett brought us five very easy ways to get your kids excited for turkey day.
1. A daily thankful activity, list, or write a thank you card.
This one is easy and we've all heard of different variations. Whether your stick feathers on a turkey, leaves on a tree, or just changing your letter board everyday, take some time each day to think of one thing your family is thankful for. Or you can write a few thank you cards to those in your life that serve thanks.
2. Talk about 'Thank you bites'.
Do you have a picky eater that will only eat a roll at Thanksgiving dinner? Melissa says, "I like to spend the month talking about trying new things and showing gratitude for a nice meal. Grandma worked so hard to cook Thanksgiving dinner, maybe we could try on or two new things, and just take one bite called a 'Thank you bite' if you like it you can eat more, if you don`t like it at least you tried it, and grandma knows you appreciate her cooking Thanksgiving dinner."
3. Do a pre-Santa purge.
We all know what`s coming in December and our kids will be overloaded with things. Take a few hours in November and go through their closets and toy boxes and donate whatever they don't play with or wear anymore. Talk to them about being thankful for all of the things they have and how important it is to share with those that don`t have as much. You can even play Marie Kondo and thank the toys as you place them in the box.
4. Write Santa letters with a heart full of thanks.
Melissa says "I know this is bringing up Christmas before Thanksgiving, but my family has a yearly tradition of writing Santa letters the night before Thanksgiving. My kids are firm believers that asking with a heart of gratitude will always add to the Christmas magic. We thank Santa for all he brought us last year, and I know Santa is grateful to know what they want so far in advance."
5. Do what you can and don`t stress.
Now it might be the case that you have a November full of to do lists and you just don`t have time for a big Thanksgiving push. We've all been there. You may see social media flooded with posts about all the gratitude activities that others are doing. Do not beat yourself up if you can`t get them done. If you've got a few minutes here or there while you doing hair, giving baths, or driving to basketball practice that you can bring up gratitude and want it means to be thankful, you are totally winning!
For more information and to follow Melissa, follow her on Facebook: @difficultmommy.
