gratitude traditions

Now that Halloween is over, the real holidays can start happening (can I get an amen?). I've told you before that Halloween is my archnemesis, but Thanksgiving on the other hand? That's when it starts getting good!


Thanksgiving is really fun to teach about in 5th grade since the curriculum is all about US History (wait, they ate their own cats and dogs out of starvation that first winter? and the pilgrims and indians weren't BFFs like the cartoons show??). And gratitude is something we can all get behind. Not to mention it's been linked to better sleep, less anxiety and depression, higher life satisfaction, and kinder behavior in relationships (source).


Here are a few of our favorite traditions that show gratitude:


1. We have a tradition of writing in our family gratitude journal every evening after scriptures and prayers. Everyone writes one thing they are grateful for in the journal (and we mean everyone! If you're hanging out here during scripture time, you're signing it.).  This is basically the only family tradition we have that's lasted more than a few days, so we can't stop now! We like that it only takes a minute each day, but keeps us focused on gratitude all year round.

2. I made a little gratitude banner (5-second tutorial: cut banner shapes from old scrapbook paper, hand-draw or print out cute letters, outline in sharpie, stick a little jupe on the back and you're good to go!). Everyone knows the real decorating should be saved for Christmas, but this is a good start.

Sorry the pictures are so dark! It's always dark when I get home now. 'Tis the life of a full-time working blogger, I suppose!

3. We love to make treats and deliver them to people who we're grateful for. Last Monday's stop included the kind neighbor who drove Jason to school after he missed the bus (seriously what would we do without our neighbors?), and another family that's been so awesome to us since we moved in.

What are your pre-Thanksgiving gratitude traditions?