It’s that time of year when, even though we are/should be thankful year round, we make sure to put more emphasis on our blessings. Last year I blogged about my failed attempt at being philosophical with my then 3 year old regarding his thankfulness. Our attempt at deep conversation resulted in his passionate testimony about having Spiderman in his life! Fast forward to this year and my now-4-year-old Landen is definitely thankful for more than Spiderman. Don’t get me wrong, there is a large Spiderman picture ready to mount in his room as we speak, and he slept in his Spiderman PJs just last night. But one interesting thing happened this year…he came to me with hugs, kisses and the longest list of “things he was thankful for” ever! I am sure this was part of his school project, but I have been pretending that this is a natural progression for my very opinionated and sometimes not-so-behaved preschooler! Just to name a few, Landen is thankful for: his family (which includes an imaginary sister who we are to have next year), his friends, soccer, hot chocolate, his house, the toilet, windows, walls, floors, TVs, books, shoes, clothes and almost everything in the house, our dog Major (that I need to personally go tell how much I appreciate), the trees, the road in front of our house, and the list goes on and on. I was so excited about his enthusiasm that I almost took for granted exactly what he was saying. Any parent can understand how easy, with all that consumes our lives daily, it is to consider this inconvenient rambling OR manipulating to get good Christmas gifts. And, of course, these possibilities are not far-fetched. However, no matter what prompted Landen’s long Thanksgiving list, I am touched by the innocence, simplicity, and straightforwardness that children have.
by Kimberly Wicker, Outreach and Development Specialist, SC Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy
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