Late Again To The Thankful Party

If you think only school-aged children are old enough to get hyper excited about Christmas, then you have never been in a roomful of 1-2 year olds. They may not know WHY they are excited, but believe me when I say these kiddos have been wound up tighter than springs since Thanksgiving, and I don't foresee any let up until we get back from break in January (if then).

In spite of this mania, can I still find thankfuls in my every day life? You betcha! Here's what I'm thankful for this week (and always, actually):

1. My little nugs have already arrived at school when I get there in the morning, and when I appear in the doorway, their faces light up. It does a heart good when they run to the door, arms held up for me to pick them up and love on them.

2. We have been learning the Chicken Dance. There is progress.

3. I ordered some jingle bells on canvas straps from Amazon on Sunday night and got them Tuesday afternoon, and we have been playing them to Christmas music every morning. Make a joyful noise!

4. I have THE BEST student workers in my class! I feel as though I have gained a passel of daughters (and a few sons), and I love having them in my world.

5. A couple of my little nugs are getting fairly extensive vocabularies and can even put two words together to make a sentence, but most of them can only say a few words. Every one of them, however, can say "Cheerio", because I use them as a bribe an appetizer to get them to sit at the table when it's time for lunch. They can't say my name, but by golly, "Cheerio" rolls right off their tongues!

6. They may have only contributed a footprint, but we ended up with super cute Christmas gifts for the kids to give to their parents. They were more work to make than I anticipated (dammit, Pinterest, why do things look so cute and easy when I'm scrolling through for craft ideas?), but the end result was worth it:

7. Not long after we were married, we were given my husband's grandmother's glider rocker. I used it with my kids for rocking them to sleep and nursing them in the night, and I now have that rocker in my classroom. It's so very useful for rocking little ones at nap time or when they have a boo boo (real or imaginary) or when they just need a little extra TLC, and I'm sure my husband's grandmother is smiling down from Heaven every time it's been used over the past 25 years.

8. I not only work with a fantastic group of student workers, but I also work with a terrific staff. They have made me feel welcome and appreciated, and it means the world to me.

9. I volunteered to have the staff Christmas party at my house, which made me feel anxious and nervous and vulnerable, but part way through the evening, I finally relaxed and enjoyed myself. I think your home is a reflection of who you really are and not just what you show people from street view. I have now shown my co-workers that both me and my house can clean up pretty good, but we're a little messy around the edges and have stuff shoved into dark places and hidden from sight. And parts are aging a little roughly, but other parts seem to be improving with age. 

10. We were blessed with not one, but TWO snow days this week! I LOVE snow days!!!

Over and out.

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