Thanksgiving 2020

What a strange year to be alive.

What a lot of things I have on my gratitude list this year.

I'm thankful for health. With a global pandemic and more personal contacts battling major diseases this year than any other, health is no longer taken for granted. In our own household, we've had fewer sicknesses this year than any other, which has been ideal for having a new baby around and during a year which makes it difficult to get a break from parenting.

I'm thankful for the way that being isolated has strengthened our family. Our kids play together for hours on end. I have found new ways of adjusting my attitude to focus on the good and really enjoy motherhood. 

I'm thankful for Husband's employment. With so much job insecurity in the world, we have noticed our gratitude for steady income.

I'm thankful for the outdoors. It has been a relief to have a place outside our walls that feels safe. As an allergy sufferer, I never truly appreciated fresh (read: pollen-filled) air. This year, I've appreciated the mercy of filling my lungs with air from a sky vast enough to filter out enough of the dangerous particles. I'm grateful for the power of the sun to warm, to kill bacteria, and to fill our bodies with vitamins.

I'm thankful for food. Our grocery budget took quite a leap this year for many reasons. I'm grateful that we have access to foods that help our bodies grow well and have energy as well as feel comforted.

I'm thankful for [limited] social media. This year feels like an explosion of online content. I'm thankful for the experts I've been able to learn from and for the ability to connect with people I care about. I'm also thankful that I got disgusted with my overuse of social media this Spring and that I have been able to hold onto that disgust so that I can be present with my babies.

I'm thankful for our slow realization that beautiful things are worth our time and attention and money. We're doing some projects around the house and it's made a noticeable difference in our enjoyment of our space. The thing I appreciate most so far has been replacing our front door with one that has a window. We haven't had it a week yet, but have already enjoyed the afternoon light, seeing what our neighbors are up to, and knowing when someone pulls into our driveway before they ring our door bell!

I'm thankful for our neighbors and the way my daughter has helped us get to know almost everyone on our street. It is nice to have so many people to chat with or check in on or borrow tools or 10x sugar from. For a while it felt like everybody preferred to keep to themselves--sort of a survival mechanism that comes with living basically on top of each other in townhouses--but leave it to a cute kid to bring people together.

I'm thankful for a lot more things, but 1 of them is crying and needs my attention so this is being cut short.