They had sat in the basement for six years, untouched, except for the time I hunted out a ruler a couple years ago.   When I first decided to leave my teaching position and become a SAHM, I had carefully packed up my classroom in the boxes left over from the copy machine paper.  My husband placed them against the wall in the basement, until they were one day needed again.

Once they were in the basement, I didn’t even open them to remove the few picture frames or other personal items that had once sat upon my desk.

They would have probably gone a few more years, but this weekend I opened the box with all the coloring supplies and what not, trying to find some stencils to let the kids explore.  I decided to move the box to the middle of the floor, where I’d have more room to rifle through its contents.  In minutes the preschooler was bent over the box, finding treasures of his own.

A dingy yellow stress ball caught his attention, and he entertained himself by throwing it as far as he could, racing to find it, and then throwing it once again.

I could have packed the box back up, returned it back against the wall, and gone about the day.  But I didn’t.  Instead, I lifted the lid of the next box in the stack, and I tumbled back through time.

On top of the files full of short story lesson plans sat a framed picture of the colleagues I  spent 8 years teaching with at the middle school.

If seeing that photo wasn’t enough to take me back through time, the magic wand that lay next to it was.  When the new state standards and subsequent testing entered the curriculum, a friend, and fellow language arts teacher, bought the wands for each of us.  The day before testing she presented us with our wands and blew a bit of “magic dust” (glitter) on us to help us get all our students to magically pass the big test.

Two dear friends of mine in the picture are no longer with us here on earth, including the one who gave me that wand.

I spent several hours going through the boxes, sifting through small gifts from former students, pictures,  boxes of paper back books, and more memories than I knew it was possible for the boxes to contain.

Not knowing when, or if, I will ever return to a classroom setting, I decided to let go of 2 boxes of the paper back books, some of the posters and other teaching materials I have accumulated.  They will be donated to one of the nearby schools this week.

But the memories?  They are all still there, safely packed away, along with the pictures and that magic wand.

The post Going through Memories first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

That being said, I think it’s important to teach children to be thankful.  Here are a few ways we’ve been doing that here at There’s Just One Mommy’s house:

1.  Of course, one of the BEST ways to teach children to be thankful is just by modeling it.  If you want them to be thankful for what they have, to say thank you to others, you have to do it, too!  I make sure to tell my kids “thank you”  when they pick up their toys, wipe up a spill, or bring me food from their play kitchen. (And boy, do they cook a lot of food!)

2.  Saying grace before dinner isn’t uncommon. (Or is that not done now a days?) Growing up in a Catholic home, we said the traditional Catholic grace before dinner every night.  I think it’s a little hard for the little ones to understand, so right now we are using a more child-friendly prayer before our meal.  After giving thanks for our food I ask each child what they are thankful for from the day.  I love to hear the things they come up with, “Thanks for milk” or “Thank you for trucks” – priceless and teaching a lesson in thanks.

3.  We’ve always taught the kids to say “thank you” when others do something for them or give them something.   I love to hear our oldest say thanks to her little brother when he hands her a toy while they’re playing.

4.  It’s no secret my kids LOVE Veggie Tales.  One of their favorite shows is Madame Blueberry:  A Lesson in Thankfulness.   In the video Madame Blueberry thought she’d be happy if she had a lot of stuff, but she learned that what really made her happy was just being thankful for what she had.  Not only does the video do a wonderful job teaching thankfulness, but the song in it is pretty catchy, too!

How do you teach thankfulness at your house?  Have a great book you’d like to share?  An activity?  I’d love to hear how others teach this value!

The post Teaching Thankfulness first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.