A Parent’s List of Honest Gratitude

Happy Thanksgiving, y’all! Just like the pilgrims said.

Now, listen: I know that you all are going to be inundated with Facebook posts and forwarded e-mails and maybe even forced sharing at the Thanksgiving table about everything that your friends and family are grateful for or reminding you (you ungrateful little shit) about all the things you should be grateful for, like your fancy house with a roof and your nice plate of hot food that no one (or nothing) else has nibbled on first.

I’m with them, I am. We should all be grateful for these things. There are some shitty things happening in the world every day, and when I let myself really think about them, it breaks my heart, and in that moment, I feel really lucky. But let’s be honest: It’s hard to maintain a sense of gratitude for the things we have come to take for granted because they are so commonplace in our lives, like hot water and clean clothing. Making professions of gratitude for these things can almost start to seem like platitudes. It’s also a bit exhausting trying to maintain that level of perspective to feel true gratitude for these things.

What’s easy to fall over myself with gratitude and literally take a moment of silence to relish when it happens? A 10-minute shower with no little person poking her head through the curtain, letting in the cold air, and pointing at my naked body and yelling “Poop!” (which is what she thinks my moles are…)

Here are a few other things that I’m grateful for this Thanksgiving season, and maybe a few that you can relate to as a parent, as well:

I’m grateful for naps. (My own.) Of any duration. On any surface. At any time of the day.

I’m grateful when my daughter gets into the car seat without flailing around and screeching like a wild monkey.

I’m grateful when I change a diaper on the bed and I don’t get shit on the sheets.

I’m grateful when I wake up and realize that my daughter has not woken up once during the night.

I’m grateful when my daughter throws my phone across the room and it lands two inches from the dog bowl. (Grateful for those two inches, not the rest.)

I’m grateful for extended warranties.

I’m grateful for Elmo. That furry, red beast has been my most effective productivity tool.

I’m grateful for fat dogs who let toddlers ride their backs.

I’m grateful for stars. Counting them gets us through the bedtime tantrums.

I’m grateful for friends who bring extra snacks.

I’m grateful for easy bed times.

I’m grateful for drive-in theaters. We wouldn’t have seen a movie in the last year without them.

I’m grateful for co-sleeping.

I’m grateful for reading snuggle sessions.

I’m grateful for toddler dancing.

I’m grateful for sweet baby hugs.

I’m grateful for spontaneous kisses.

I’m grateful for the power of my own hugs when my daughter is hurt.

I’m grateful for baby giggles.

I’m grateful for the small voice brimming with happiness and love that says “mamma!”

I’m grateful for small hands that take mine and lead me through the world.

What are you grateful for?

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