1O Prompts to Help Your Family Practice Gratitude this Thanksgiving
During these times of Covid isolation and restrictions, life has been a lot harder for many of us. There are a lot of losses, especially around hallmark life experiences, such as not having an exciting senior year, not having a 16th birthday party or having to have a small wedding or not being able to go too far for a honeymoon. That coupled with the uncertainty of the future in terms of college, or sports, and other opportunities has created a lot of stress. Add to that, too much togetherness with our families and it becomes easy to focus on what is not good in our lives rather than what is.
Thanksgiving is a time to celebrate what we do have. There are all sorts of posts on FB, for example, such as remembering that your house is the dream of a homeless person, your health is the dream of a sick person. Unfortunately knowing that others are worse off than us is not necessarily consoling! Thanksgiving is the time to find the silver lining in the cloud, to truly embrace and count what is positive in our lives, even during tough times.
Below are some fun ideas to do with your family during Thanksgiving…. Even if it ends up being on Zoom or FaceTime:
Share with a family member one of these statements by filling in the blank:
a)I am grateful for…
bThe time you were kind to me when…
c)The time you surprised me with…
d)The time you made me laugh about
e)The time we both got in trouble and you…
f)The time you helped me to understand…
g)The time you lent me your…
h)The time you told me…
i)The time you cooked ….
j)The time you listened to me when…
k)The time you did _______for me even though you didn’t want to with a loving heart
Say something about the person next to you (or pick numbers if you are not all in one place) that you are thankful for. “I am grateful you are my (sister, brother,mom, etc) because…”
Share a memory of something which has made you thankful in the past, something a family member has done or a memory you cherish so much that it makes you thankful they are part of your family. Be specific!
Have every family member present a photograph of a special moment that they experienced due to being part of your family and share with everyone.
Share something positive you learned about a family member that you didn’t know until this year.
Pretend you won one million dollars that you had to spend on each member of your family. What would you do for them to show your appreciation and say why.
Have one family member (the answerer) think of something for which he or she is thankful. The remaining family members (the questioners) then ask questions to determine what thing the answerer has in mind. These questions must be stated in such a way that they can be answered with a simple “yes” or “no”. The goal is for the questioners to determine the answer in only 20 questions.
Set a chair in the middle of the room and designate it as the “appreciation chair.” Gather around the chair and have one family member sit in it. Those gathered around can bestow praise, gratitude, and encouragement on the loved one seated in the appreciation chair. Have each family member take a turn sitting in it.
Have each person write a letter to read at Thanksgiving to a family member that had a positive influence on them.
Give each family member a “gratitude rock”- a flat rock with one word about them that you appreciate: “loving” “kind” “unselfish” “considerate” etc.