tradition- the day before thanksgiving.

 so, you've read the post where i wrote what i wanted to do...
this is the post where i tell you what we did.

goal: help my kids realize how fortunate we are and feel grateful.

i was a bit depressed after spending the morning watching video clips of abused, starving children...
i tried to pick uplifting, mild clips for my kids to watch.
but i did laugh with my sister in law at the emotionally scarred children i could be creating...

that night, before dinner, we had them all lay on my bed and watch some of the clips i'd found.
i edited them by hand because they were too long.
and, my favorite is the guy with no legs and arms... i love that guy.
he just wrote a book (i saw it on sale at Wal-mart)
we talked about stuff like kids with cancer, kids who are homeless, orphans, countries where they don't have hospitals or enough food...
it was sad, but not negative.
leah kept asking, "When I have a birthday am I going to have no arms or legs?"
or lifting her shirt and comparing her bones to the starving African children...  so funny.

later, when the kids said what they were thankful for... i felt that their answers were real.
they said things like a home, or their health.
and... i'm more grateful for those things too.

Starvation Dinner- 2010

for our "Starvation Dinner" we had WATER and RICE and BLACK BEANS.
(actually, the beans were made using Martha Stewart's recipe... they were good)
my kids whine a bit... but, not because of the dinner, just because of the name.
they THINK they are getting a raw deal.
really, we'd eat black beans and rice as a regular dinner... but because of the title and the lesson, this meal works.
i told the kids that they were going to sleep outside by the dumpster on boxes that night.
they were like, "Really?!"
no.  i didn't make them.  but, it was funny watching them THINK i might.
can you imagine what our kids would feel like ONE NIGHT without a home?

after our Starvation Dinner, we put the little kids to bed and had a family game night.
it was so fun.
except that i bought prizes and tons of treats...
so my "Starvation Dinner" ended up being followed by a candy feast... hah!

game night... May I? with prizes...

just doing SOMETHING purposeful the day before Thanksgiving ALWAYS makes me happy.
i LOVE this tradition.