We've done a variety of things in November to keep a running gratitude list leading up to Thanksgiving. Take note that not a single thing here is Pinterest-worthy in any way. I'm a firm believer that a roll of butcher paper and a box of markers, maybe a cookie cutter and some scissors if time allows, is more than sufficient to accomplish discipleship.
2012 tree (when I had a 3-year-old, 2-year-old, and five-month-old)
2013 leaves (when the new toddler would've ripped anything off the walls)
2014 chart (when Sid the Science Kid was all the rage in my house)
In November 2015, we were packing up our house to move to Minnesota. There was no time for projects.
In November 2016, Calvin was a month old and I was absolutely swimming in new-baby-hood. There was no mental capacity for projects.
2017: The Thanksgiving Alphabet. This was the year we put "baby" on the list right before I found out I'd miscarried. Some holidays carry sadness, you know?
2018: I couldn't find any pictures of anything. I think we did the alphabet two years in a row. We went to Ohio for Thanksgiving that year, so I guess I was too busy packing to take pictures! (That was the year I organized everyone's clothes in ziploc bags, and it made me sooooo happy. I am who I am.)
2019: we revived the leaf idea and kept a stack of them (and a roll of masking tape) on the kitchen table all month.
2020: the Grateful Gobbler! (I'm such a nerd.) We added feathers at dinner every night, and said what we were thankful for by theme: food, family, homeschooling, beauty, yourself, church, a memory, Minnesota/where we live, something fun, something that starts with the letter of your name, something electric, something historical, holidays, books, products, a promise, something silly, and something about Sundays. Here's the finished bird:
True story: I intended to add a wattle, but my kids used up every last sheet of red construction
paper in the house that week making paper squids.
2023: alphabetically, again
2024: This was a fun one. We were pretty open-ended on our topics, if I remember correctly, but we categorized everything we were thankful according to what it teaches us about God: his provision, protection, love, providence, and faithfulness, and how he created everything.
2025 (in progress): This year everyone gets a color and we're filling in a rainbow!
I'd love to know if you have any other ways of tracking your family's gratitude!
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