Thankful Friday (AKA~ I'm a day late....)

I feel like I write a lot about gratitude these days, because, well….. life is pretty amazing.

Lest I accidentally portray any false reality on social media, I will be very clear in saying that my life very far from perfection and I have problems like everyone else~ I make mistakes, I yell, I have bangs that won’t cooperate and point out in all directions like it's 1985, not to mention my animals and children that don't necessarily cooperate either. I spill coffee, burn dinner and sometimes even slip on dog poop. On occasion, I cuss aloud and offend people.

But overall, life is pretty awesome, and the more I think about it, the more that awesomeness seems to grow.

For this Thankful Thursday, I wanted to bring back some journal prompts I wrote and shared a couple of years ago.

But then, I also wanted to sketch flowers on the edges,  and it got late and I had a bunch of scanner / technology issues, so, now it's a Thankful Friday post instead.

Anyhoo....Since most of us are probably going to be spending more time than usual with our offspring over the holiday break, and there's the actual holidays to deal with too...well...it might be a good idea to spend a few minutes focusing on what you're grateful for in regards to these people.

I find that warm and fuzzy feelings are a good preventative for the potential flipping out that too many celebrations can inspire.

You can download the journal page here. It's free and no opt in required. I recommend printing it on colored paper, because life is better in color, and please share with a friend if you like it.

Since I'm feeling in a reflective-ishy mood, I decided to go ahead and answer the questions myself too~ The questions and my answers are below.

Hope you enjoy! 


*************** Giving Thanks   Journal Prompts****************************

What is one gift your children have taught you about yourself?


From birth my kids taught me that I have some fiercely protective mama bear style instincts, and in general, they’ve taught me to trust my heart.

Some areas where I followed my heart, even though it went against the mainstream, like free form homeschooling (funschooling) were kind of a chance, but they paid off because the kids had wonderful childhoods and grew into amazing, happy and engaged young people who still like to learn.

Oh yeah, they also taught me that theories are a lot easier than reality (like the one I had about never yelling at your kids…...yeah...that didn’t exactly work out. Bwahahahaha!)

What are some awesome things that your children bring into your life on a daily basis?

Laughter, for sure. They are really funny people.

And dreams~ they continually impress me with their dreaming and scheming and inspire me to keep going with my own.

What is your favorite thing about being a parent?

Watching little humans grow and change is amazing. Getting to be a part of helping them develop as individual people making their path in and figuring out the world is altogether awesome.

They’re also a lot of fun to hang out with, and have given me countless hours of entertainment with their antics.


What is something your parents taught you that you are grateful for?

My mom taught me how do wonders with whatever money you had, and to make it work for you.

My dad taught me the importance of adventures.

Who can you call when the going gets tough, and you just want to curl up in a ball or are about to start spewing flames out of your eyeballs?

I have a couple of wonderful wise woman friends, and a really great partner, who have always been willing to open their ears to listen to my woes when I needed it.

I do realize though that it’s important to watch it with this because sometimes when you start complaining though, you get on a roll and if a grumbling fest goes on too long, I think it makes things worse.

It's a fine line, I guess~ you gotta let it out, but if you get stuck in a negative mode, then that just keeps whatever was annoying you in the forefront of your brain. I usually feel a lot better when I get on with life.

Parenting is a lot of work sometimes. What’s something nice you can do for yourself to replenish your resources today?  (**Bonus Tip~ Thinking about it is nice, but it only really helps if you actually DO IT.)

I started today with very little in the way of resources to offer, which is not such a fun place to be.

But, I got to go for a walk with a friend and my dogs. It was sunny and the autumn leaves were amazing. The visit was much too short, but also much better than no visit at all, and sunshine on my shoulders certainly makes me happy.

I came home and ate chocolate peanut m & ms, and I'm making soup in bit, which I may just eat in bed. 

I also wore plaid leggings and fuzzy socks all day.

Not exactly a trip to the spa, but good stuff nonetheless. 

**********************************

Thanks for reading this far. I hope you download the Happy Thoughts Journal Questions for yourself, and if you enjoyed this post, please head over to like it on Facebook, and tell a friend. We could all use more Happy in life.

Enjoy the weekend!

---