Give thanks.

I know that traditionally people are supposed to "give thanks" at Thanksgiving; we've all had to endure family dinners where everyone at the table is put on the spot, having to tell the group what they are thankful for. It's a nice idea in theory but we all sit there sweating, knowing that it will soon be our turn, just hoping we don't sound like fakes or saps or both.


I say screw it; New Year's Day has always been the time that I take stock. It's hard not to romanticize the first day of a new year and hope that it really is a clean slate where all your optimistic dreams can unfurl. 


But please don't mar that pristine, open space of possibility by mentioning resolutions. I don't want to change anything, but I really want to appreciate what I have. I want to remember that without the little things in the foreground, my big picture would be pretty uninteresting. 

So today I was definitely thankful for little girls who ride on their Daddy's shoulders while holding their toy phones. Pretty easy to be thankful for that.

And I was extra-specially thankful for little girls who wear their fairy-princess tiaras underneath their strawberry toques. There's something so super-hero-dressed-in-pink-girls-totally-rule about that.

But most of all I'm thankful that this is my life and this is my family. Tomorrow I'll likely lose my cool about some minor triviality and my rational brain and my reactionary brain with have a showdown. 


But for now it's all good.