30 Days of Thanks: Day 30

Today I am thankful for...30 days of thanks!

I did it! Wahoo! 30 posts in 30 days! I'd get up and do a happy dance except I'm too busy cramming Parmesan and herb crusted pita chips in my mouth. Mmmmm. (Note: Today I am also thankful for Parmesan and herb crusted pita chips.)

When I first thought up this challenge, I was worried I wouldn't be able to think of anything to be thankful for. After all, I'm in the midst of the terrible twos with peanut and I was afraid I'd be thankful for his bedtime for 30 days straight. That or wine. Don't get me wrong. I am thankful for those two things, especially when peanut's bedtime is followed by a nice glass of chardonnay on the sofa with the hubby. But I found myself, throughout the month, very mindful of the fun moments, the silly moments, the oh my gosh my life would not be the same without peanut moments.

I found myself also more aware of those little things that the hubby does to make our family life fun and my load as primary care giver and house "manager" easier to bear. I always knew he was doing these things. I try to thank him for these things. But during this little exercise, I found myself appreciating them in a new way. In a way that made me bite my tongue about how he was doing something and just let him do it. In a way that made me see how alike the hubby and peanut are. In a way that made me see just how lucky I am to have these two as my family.

Each day, I found myself ticking off a laundry list of things I was thankful for. Peanut's stellar behavior in church. The nice bagger at the grocery store who helped load the car with groceries. The ridiculous nekkid baby time before bath with what seemed like a choreographed series of events repeated over and over for at least 20 minutes with the hubby and I in tears laughing. The attempted phone conversations peanut had with his family on turkey day and how much that meant to him later in the evening when he recounted each and every one of them again and again. The safe and healthy arrival of two new babies this month to two mommy friends. Peanut's "I did it!" exclamations after zipping up his own pants, putting on his own socks or peeing in the potty before his bath. The quiet moments I found with a book or a cup of tea. The snuggle moments with peanut before his nap. The snuggle moments with the hubby while watching a movie. The list goes on and on...

The difficult part was choosing something to write about. And some days, the hard part was just writing in general. This exercise, however, forced me to sit at the keyboard and put thoughts to text and I know I will grow from that experience. I hope, along the way, that I picked a few things that some of you could relate to or could share a laugh about or at the very least kept you reading! After all, I am most thankful that you all take a few minutes out of your day to stop in and see what self-indulgent topic I'm writing about on any given day. I appreciate you stopping by and commenting both here and when I see you in person.

So today, although I am thankful that I am officially done with this public, month-long gratitude journal, I hope that I continue to be mindful of all that is good, funny and blessed about my days. Maybe we'll see 30 Days of Thanks revisited or reconfigured...who knows. Bottom line, I'm thankful that I did it and that you all were along for the ride.

Thank you!