Keeping it Real

Eight Sundays to Christmas: Gratitude Journey for 2024

WRITTEN BY BLAIR FJESETH

There are eight Sundays from the beginning of November until Christmas Eve, and this year I plan to use these days to dive deeper with my children into gratitude and how we can express it. ‘Tis the season, right?

I chose Sundays because they are a lazy day in our house—one not filled with sports, school, chaos or other activities. That gives us the perfect amount of time to dedicate to this effort.

Hopefully, this will be a fun way to countdown to Christmas, start a deeper dialogue about the meaning of gratitude and instill in our children the importance of being thankful and showing thanks.

Join along, and feel free to share your suggestions or adapt the activities for your own family.

To Start:

Find an age-appropriate poem or book about gratitude. Pose the question, “What do you think gratitude means?” Be sure to either write this down or make a mental note. It will be fun to compare the initial answers with the ones given at the end of the eight weeks.

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Sunday, November 3 – “Kick-Off” (City/Town/State)

The saying “If you’re lucky enough to live in Montana, well then, you are lucky enough” rings true, and what better way to show gratitude to our city, town and state than by helping keep her beautiful? Pick a spot that you love and clean up trash and litter. Knowing my kids, they will make it into a competition and mess around with the trash grabbers, but somewhere in there, I hope we talk about what it takes to keep a place we love well taken care of.

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Sunday, November 10 – (Family Donation)

Work as a family to plan a “gift.” This can be something along the lines of gathering unused blankets, buying toiletries and donating them to a shelter, organizing a neighborhood food drive or giving your time to a place like the humane society or the soup kitchen. The goal is to work as a family to plan what you are doing and when (before December 24).

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Sunday, November 17 – (Family & Friends)

To ring in Thanksgiving, have your child make a card or write a letter to someone they are thankful for. Make sure to have them list why they are grateful for that person. Hand-deliver or mail it to ensure it arrives by Turkey Day!

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Sunday, November 24 – (Financial Donation)

This week’s assignment won’t be due until the 24th of December (at least in my house). I am giving each of my children money. You can decide what is suitable for your family, but the goal is for them to donate the money to a cause, charity or person in need. They need to share who they gave it to, why and how it made them feel.

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Sunday, December 1 – (Individual Giving)

We have so much stuff that goes unused or un-played with. Now is the time to allow others to find joy in what we no longer use. Have your child go through items and find clothes, books and toys to donate. This isn’t a “give X and we’ll buy new toys for Christmas” situation. This is about giving because it feels good to help others. My kids will likely choose many of their books, and my challenge to them will be to find someone at school who they know might like the book. I’ll have my kids write a note to that student about why they enjoyed the book and hope this person likes it too. Other items can be donated to a second-hand store or to acquaintances who might love the items.

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Sunday, December 8 – (Elderly)

Can you believe we live in a world where some of our elderly are completely forgotten? I can’t either. This year my kids will be making cards and collecting items from the dollar store to give to those at the elderly care home in town. Things I’ve found that go over well are socks with grips, fuzzy socks, crafts and large-font word searches, Sudoku and crossword puzzles.

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Sunday, December 15 – (Educators)

This is likely the last week your child will have school or daycare before the break. Have them think of something nice they can do for someone at school. This could be the teacher, a para or a playground monitor. Let your child devise a way to share gratitude, be it a card, small gift or drawing.

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Sunday, December 22 – (Neighbors or Strangers)

Challenge kids to think of a random act of kindness they can do for the people who live around them. Maybe shoveling the driveway of an elderly neighbor, scraping ice off healthcare workers’ cars, baking cookies and delivering them to someone down the street or dropping off a holiday card. Kids are creative, and I have no doubt they will find a great way to share gratitude with our street.

Wrapping it up:

Ask your kids what “gratitude” means to them and what they have enjoyed or learned most throughout these eight weeks. I plan on giving each of my kids a handwritten note about how grateful I am for them. I plan to point out a few specifics of the activities and where I saw them grow and shine.

Blair Fjeseth is a working professional and proud Montana mom. You can reach her at blairparker. inc@gmail.com.