In the evening, I often do "thankfuls" with Little Man. Over dinner, or in the bath, or when we're rocking in the dark before bed, I ask him about what made him happy that day. I talk to him about family members and friends we've seen recently and why we were glad to spend time with them. Mostly, it's me talking and him adding babble commentary, but it's planting a seed.
Thankful is a pretty abstract concept. How do you explain it to a toddler?
I thought a lot about it over the past month. And the only answer I could come up with was...well, you can't.
But you can SHOW them. As a mom, I can show Little Man that I'm thankful for his Dada by being excited when Husband comes home after a day at work. We show we're thankful to his music teacher and to the nice lady at the grocery store who gives him stickers by giving them a wave when we leave (Little Man doesn't have a word for "thank you" yet). When he has fun experiences, we emphasize what a lucky little guy he is and how happy we are to be doing things as a family.
But this November, I wanted to really focus on the concept in a toddler friendly way. So we temporarily closed his art exhibit in his bedroom where he displays all his crafty creations and made a "thankful" wall. All month long we stuck things on the wall. Little Man often goes to the wall and points to something we've pinned up, giving us lots of opportunities to talk about things we are thankful for.
Some of the things on our thankful wall:
--The brochure from a train museum we visited earlier this month. We are VERY thankful for trains.
--Winnie the Pooh stickers, symbolizing both Pooh and his gentle stories and Little Man's love for stickers.
--The "I voted" sticker from the presidential election, reminding us to be thankful for the freedoms we have.
--The wrapping from a Gerber Puff container. Husband laughed when I stuck this to the wall, but I am thankful for puffs. They are the only non-mashed food my kid will eat. I should buy stock in them.
--Pictures of his favorite family members, which were immediately swiped.
I really enjoyed that Little Man took down the photos of his family. I watched him wander around the house, talking to the Mamaw in the picture and showing the Papaw in the picture the trucks outside. The photo of Nana got a tour of his bookshelf and the photo of Husband and myself was placed in his wagon and pulled around. The photo of his godparents with Winnie the Pooh, taken when Husband and I got married, got a special place on honor on his train table. Finally Little Man stashed them in his bed with his favorite stuffed animal.
Maybe he gets the concept better than I thought.
