Thanksgiving For Kids Doesn’t Have To Be Turkey

Thanksgiving For Kids Doesn’t Have To Be Turkey

Kristyn Meyer is on a journey to make herself the best human that she can be. These posts are a reflection of that. She welcomes your support via reading and through commissioned affiliate links within her posts! To stay up to date on all of her shenanigans, please subscribe to her email list! (psst…there’s a free gift involved)

Here we are, two days before Thanksgiving. Another Thanksgiving for kids here in our family. And I have so much to be grateful for this year. That’s honestly the case every year, but this year, in particular, has just been amazing. Outside of the usual suspects (husband, kids, health, a roof over our heads), this year I have been given the gift of self-confidence and happiness.

So much happiness.

When I decided to start this blog project almost six months ago, it was on a complete whim. I didn’t really put any thought into it, I just had the idea pop into my head when I realized that I was 34 years of age and still not happy with who I was as a person. After I wrote the first post, my eyes were opened (I think the youth’s call it “woke”). I realized how much I needed to change. Not for my job, not for my family, not for anyone else but myself. I needed to get into a place where I liked myself again. I couldn’t remember the last time I did. It’s a really unsettling feeling to wake up in the morning and not like who you see in the mirror.

I’ve learned how to self-reflect on a deeper level and to identify specific things that I wanted to change, both internally and externally. One of the things I first came to was that I want to just love. No matter who it is, or what they have done to me, I just want to express love towards them. Loving a person doesn’t mean that I have to take care of them, or treat them like family (because that was a pitfall of a previous version of myself – giving too much). But it does mean that I treat them with respect and kindness at all times.

Sadly, I wasn’t like that before. But I am now. I know to see a person in their present state and not let past experiences reflect on the new interactions I have with them.

I am learning to just be present.

No, I won’t say that I am a master at this, as I most definitely am not. And I have some days that are better than others. But I am so much better than what I used to be. Although this journey has been for me, this task has benefited many others as well – primarily my children. And I am so glad that I was able to get this under control while they are young instead of missing out on so many moments in their early years.

That being said, I would definitely have liked to be anywhere but present/in the moment this morning. My son was especially difficult during his well-baby appointment and I’m quite certain the staff members were contemplating a CPS call. It only sounded like I was stabbing him, really I just made the mistake of looking at him.

So sorry to the kind office staff.

I’m getting the mental bandwidth and a slight gift of time. (Do parents actually have free time? No. No is the answer to that.) to make myself into who I want to be and to learn self-care. I exercise regularly, I am eating much healthier, I LOST TEN POUNDS! I’ve also learned to love reading again, unearthed some hobbies that had been buried for a while, and reconnected with friends and family that had grown distant. All of these things that I didn’t think I had time for before have been able to make their way into my schedule and my life is better for it.

Here are a few other things that I have learned during this process in the past five months, for your reference:

1. Light mayonnaise sucks.
2. Lisa Scottoline books are wonderful.
3. You can have just as much energy without coffee (except for days that include well-baby visits).
4. Running a 5k is doable (well, really if it’s run/walk, but whatever)
5. 8 hours of sleep a night is a good amount to be able to thrive. Not survive, thrive.
6. Reduced calorie hot cocoa should be taken off all store shelves and thrown in a dumpster.
7. It’s possible to go 1 week without washing your hair and still look slightly presentable for work.
8. The best days include being able to fit in at least a 2-minute shower in the morning and even just a few minutes of outside time during sunshine hours.
9. Little kids don’t yet realize that cereal isn’t a dinner food, yay!
10. It’s possible to have more energy when you don’t sleep in….yeah, that was troubling to me too.

I hope that everyone surrounds themselves with love and happiness this holiday, and are able to see all the things that are afforded to us to make our lives great. I love the reminder that I get from this blog post – The Significance of Insignificant Moments. As for me and mine, we will be continuing our family tradition of traveling to Chicago. Our Thanksgiving for kids day will include lots of family time and a rotisserie chicken from Jewel-Osco. Remember: Thanksgiving day isn’t about what you eat – it’s about who you eat it with.

Also remember: little kids don’t know the difference between chicken and turkey. Thanksgiving for kids is great!