It’s my one-year-old’s favorite phrase of the week.

“Dink! Dink! Thank you!”

“Pee pee!  Pee pee!  Thank you!”

“Nina!  Nina!  Thank you!”

...after another rough day...

She doesn’t wait for me to complete her request first.  No.  She automatically assumes I’m going to give her what she wants within the following 10 seconds or less, thus thanking me in advance.  (So, that’s when it becomes engrained in our personalities to expect that our every request and demand of life will come true.)

My three-year-old is beginning to realize ,whole-hardheartedly, that isn’t always the case.   However disappointing life can be, at any age, there’s always an outweighing amount to be thankful for.  There just is.

But everyone has their limit.  That point where it becomes hard to stay focused.  For my one-year-old, it’s when I can’t get the snack and ‘dink’ to her fast enough.  Thus, igniting a foot stomping brigade in my kitchen.  My three-year-old doesn’t understand why s.  I’m sure there will be more shopping cart meltdowns before that one is over.  And, lets face it…then we’ll just move on to designer clothes and then cars…and then colleges….it’ll never really end, that one.  For me, it’s not being able to grab a half hour of sanity out on the road running before everyone wakes up.

Explaining ‘being thankful’ to a toddler is no easier than ‘why the dentist has to clean your teeth,’ or ‘you have to be quiet in church,’ or ‘you have to listen to your teacher at school.’  Why cant the appropriate parenting response just be, “you just do!”  If only…

“Chica!  Chica!  Thank you!”

Here’s to staying inherently thankful…that Chica is not on the TV now.  Just the talking ‘stuffed up’ Star.  Yay.

Happy ‘Thank you’s’

Megs.