Thanksgiving | VIVIAN KIRKFIELD – Writer for Children

I follow quite a few bloggers and received a number of lovely posts for Thanksgiving. If you click on each link, it will take you to their Thanksgiving post.

Parenting.com (some ideas for using left-over turkey)

The Mom Writes

Because I’m the Mommy

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all keep this level of positivity and recognition of all the good things that we do have as these bloggers have done.

Here’s a challenge: let’s keep the momentum going through till Christmas…and then can we put ‘keeping a positive attitude’ on our list of goals for the New Year?

Children who grow up in a home that is filled with positive vibrations are going to be empowered to master tasks and skills; feel appreciated, loved and valued; and like themselves…all important components of building self-esteem. That’s what my book is all about…it enables parents and teachers to build self-esteem and better literacy skills with quick and easy activities that are fun for everyone! I hope everyone will spread the word about the 50% off sale on my website. The book makes a super cool holiday gift for a parent, grandparent, preschool, nursery or kindergarten teacher, daycare provider, babysitter…and it’s only $19.95!

Tiffany at Home Grown Families, a natural living mom blog says, “This book is amazing! Homeschoolers…this is perfect for language arts, art class and several other subjects. What a great book to add to your curriculum!”

My husband and I would have loved to spend Thanksgiving Day surrounded by family…but unfortunately, our family is spread out across the country and traveling during the holiday season is difficult and costly and fraught with delays and cancellations.

So we decided to turn this into a positive day and as soon as we spoke to our children this morning on the phone, we packed up our Jeep and headed to our favorite fishing spot. It was a glorious day here in Colorado…sunny and warm and perfect for outdoor activities.

We fly-fish in the artificial lure only catch-and-release area at Eleven Mile Canyon. Sad to say, we found an empty Styrofoam container labeled “Night crawlers” in the brush on the bank. There are 9 miles of beautiful fishable water where you can use bait…and only 2 miles at the top by the dam where you can’t…and that’s where we found the worm container. 😦 We picked it up and added it to the rest of the garbage we would carry out of there, leaving the place clean for the next happy fisherpeople. There were actually a few people doing a riverside cleanup in a different area…what an awesome way to spend Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful day…my husband caught several rainbows…I had one on…but he got away. 😦 Maybe I’ll net him next time! We need to think positively, right?

The holiday of Thanksgiving serves as a reminder for many of us that we have much to be thankful for.

As a mom, educator and author, I’m especially thankful for the amazing opportunity I have had to instill my values and share my beliefs with so many others. Being a parent is a huge responsibility…it’s like Show-and-Tell…we need to be good role models of the behavior we expect from our children.

I’m thankful that when I taught kindergarten and Head Start, I learned so much from the other teachers, from the parents of the children and from the children themselves.

I’m thankful that when my children were growing up, I spent as much time with them as I could…operating a home daycare enabled me to stay at home and be there to see them off to school as well as be there when they returned home in the afternoon.

I’m thankful that now that my children are grown, with families of their own, the bond we formed years ago has grown even stronger…we all look forward to each opportunity we have to spend time together.

I’m thankful that during my school and library Show-Me-How programs, I am able to connect with so many young children and pass along the messages in picture books that may help them deal with problems that concern them.

I’m thankful that when I do parent and teacher presentations, I can share my passion for using picture books and positive parental participation to build self-esteem, develop literacy skills and strengthen the parent-child connection.

I’m thankful that because of my book journey, I’ve been able to connect with wonderful people…awesome bloggers, other authors who are generous with their time and expertise, and so many more.

I’m thankful for my husband of forty-four years who has been so supportive of everything I am involved in…we still enjoy being with each other, whether we are hiking or fly-fishing in the Colorado Rockies or sitting toe-to-toe on the couch watching a movie together.

Getting ready for a day of fishing!

I’m thankful for my health and my ability to do what I need to do and want to do.

I’m thankful to live in a country where I can do what I need to do and want to do…and where there are places of beauty and wonder still to be explored.

As this year draws to a close, I look back with thanks for all that I have and I look ahead, with eager anticipation, to what the future may bring.

What are you thankful for? Please do share.