I'm Thankful for....

It was a week before thanksgiving and I was attending thanksgiving lunch at Apple’s school. All the kids and their parents were sitting together around the small kiddie tables eating lunch. The tables were decorated with place mats which the kids had made. Each kid had made one place mat on which they had written what they were thankful for. When I reached there, the kids had already started eating and had placed their plates on the place mat so my observant eye failed to notice the artwork. Sometime during the middle of lunch, a mom sitting next to me picked up her son’s place mat and proudly showed it to other moms. He had written ‘I am thankful for my mom’ …how sweet! Another mom showed her son’s place mat and said with a mock sad face that she wasn’t so lucky; apparently pet turtles were higher on the appreciation list than mommy. I was about to console her when it struck me that I hadn’t seen what my little angel had written. I glanced at her place mat. Her plate was covering the writing on it. My attempts to move her plate were met with loud ‘mommy, don’t pull my plate’ type responses. So I waited patiently until she was done eating. After we picked up her plate, there it was, her own words, “I am thankful for my ROOM”! Suddenly turtles, dogs, cats were sounding better. Did I raise a materialistic brat! I told myself that may be there was a deeper meaning to this....having just returned from India where we all bunked in one small room in my parent’s 2 bedroom apartment , my daughter may have gained a greater sense of appreciation of what she has. Yeah right! Who am I kidding here?
Well at least she was thankful for something! I should be thankful about that.

Now this is what happens when you take your little one shopping with you and respond with ‘but I don’t have that color’ when she asks you ‘Mommy why do you need more clothes?’. First I needed to stop and appreciate the good things in my life. I was dwelling on this thought when the mumbai attacks occurred and brought on a whole new perspective on things. So this thanksgiving, I made a note of things that I am thankful for:
First and foremost, I am thankful that my family and friends in Mumbai are safe.
Thankful for my beautiful, smart and loving daughter who brightens my days
… for my loving family and friends
… for my good health
… for having received a good education
… for my home
… for having a chance to see and live in different parts of the world
… for a good life in general
last but not the least: the Internet and the blogosphere.

What are you thankful for ?