Thanksgiving: 2020

We recently saw an article about the importance of teaching your Toddler the meaning of Thanksgiving and we thought “oh wow, what a great idea!” After a few quick searches on Pinterest, we found Thanksgiving crafts and games that would not only be fun, but also educational! Mom of the year? Absolutely. But then we started thinking...did we even know the meaning on Thanksgiving? We know there was some sort of big dinner with turkey, but what else? How could we possibly teach a Toddler (the same person who confuses pineAPPLES with pineCONES) about a holiday we were also confused about?

Unfortunately, as we are learning about some other historic events, the history lesson we were given on Thanksgiving may not have been exactly what happened. However, the general consensus is Thanksgiving is about two main things: family and thankfulness. In the year of 2020, we can honestly say we’re struggling with how to teach these concepts. Many of our families have been taken away. Even if you’re one of the lucky ones who haven’t been directly impacted by Covid-19, our normal day to day interactions have been flipped upside down. We really only see Grandparents over FaceTime and those fun family parties where all the cousins ran around like crazy? They are nothing but a distant memory at this point. It’s kinda hard to feel thankful at times like these, isn’t it?

But what is our job as Parents? Well #1, is always keep the tiny human alive, but #2, is teach them to be a better person, even when it’s really hard. Things aren’t always going to be easy. Sometimes the rug gets pulled out from under you, but it doesn’t mean that every single thing is horrible. We once heard a phrase that says even on cloudy days, the sun still rises. 2020 might have been extra cloudy, but we still did see some sun. So let’s brainstorm, what can we feel thankful for? They don’t even have to be major. For starters, being able to wear sweatpants every day? Thankful. Having constant access to your fridge because you’re home all the time? Thankful. Discovering pancake cereal is an acceptable breakfast? Incredibly thankful.

It’s easy to feel hopeless at times like these, but you have one (or even more) joyful, remarkable, miracle probably tugging on you for attention as you read this. While these are stressful times, their smiling faces make it just a little easier to be thankful. We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again: just do the best you can! We’re all struggling, but yet somehow surviving. If you want to teach your child the real meaning of Thanksgiving, just let them know how thankful you are for them.