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Tuesday, November 16, 2010

grateful moments

i found myself in a simple situation last week that gave me the opportunity to teach gratitude to coen. let's back track for a moment. coen loves cars, trucks, trains...anything with wheels. if we are ever somewhere that has one of those big red cozy coupe cars, he is in it. our neighbors have one parked in their garage. it hasn't moved since we've lived here. everyday when coen and i
walk to the mailbox he sees it, points to it, and says, "drive! drive! drive!". i have to explain that we don't belong to that car, and we only drive cars that are ours (that's a much bigger life lesson, i hope to never have to teach!). well, on this particular day last week, he made a run for it...i was too slow. before i could stop him, he was in the car, "drive! drive! driving!" in the neighbors garage. at the very moment that i am trying to pull him out, the mom that "owns" this cozy coupe walks out of the house. she begins to laugh, and asks me if he wants it. are? you?kidding? she explains that it is just taking up space and her kids are too old for it. i thanked her a million times, and my heart was grinning as i watched coen push it home. he played with it all evening, and i began to think about the opportunity this simple act had given me. sure, he is only 1 1/2 and i had thanked her, but we could do more. the next day i baked up some cookies and had coen color a picture (a car picture or course!) and we walked next door. before we knocked i explained to him, that we needed to say thank you for the nice car they gave him. he handed his picture to the kids, and i passed the plate of cookies to the mom. the kids were smiling, the mom was thankful. there, that's better.




i wonder what else coen would be grateful for, if he could only truly understand the meaning. i would like to think that early morning snuggles would make the list.





both coen and lily should be thankful for pasta in the water table. for coen, it is a great outdoor activity for winter. for lily, well she ate about 3 pounds of dry pasta the 1st day we had it out. oops.





soccer class and team cheers, cause "we love soccer!"





then there's all the crazy fun he has with daddy, like jumping on the couch and ultimate playdough. boy oh boy, do they get wild!





i look forward to growing and nurturing his thankful heart, but for now i will have to take a guess at it. maybe he and i can share grateful moments for now, and of course a starbucks once in a while.





2 comments:

  1. my sweet little man you are so blessed to have the mama bird and daddy bird that you have! they are so blessed to have you too!i love all the pictures and can't wait till i can up and take a ride in your new car! love you most, nana

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  2. What a wonderful post! He is so stinkin cute, I love the pic of him driving the car, he is just ecstatic!!

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