I wrote this post as part of participation in a blog tour for The Motherhood on behalf of the makers of Children’s MOTRIN and received compensation for my time. As always, all opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting Marino Bambinos.
At the start of the New Year, I began a simple yet soon to be consistent gratitude practice. Gleaned from somewhere on Pinterest – we starting jotting down messages of gratitude and tucking them away into a big mason jar to open up on New Year’s day.
Ever since the big girl was a solo toddler, we’ve had a little family gratitude practice of sharing what we are grateful for before going to bed at night. I soon learned that there was something about the act of writing it down that caused a notable shift in my perspective. We found collective happiness in moments that may have otherwise gone unnoticed. We had conversations about how we have enough. We appreciated our home, our health, our families and where we live. And a steadfast commitment in making time for the things that we love, together as a family, brought us to places like the beach this summer more than ever.
I will always be a work in progress and allow myself to be human. I still have my fair share of grumbles and talks with best friends to help pull myself out of things that are petty. Our big jar, tucked away with noted accomplishments, memories and messages of thanks have reminded me that being present in gratitude is an integral part of living a positive life. As is surrounding myself with people who aim to lift one another up.
As we’ve entered the final month of the year – I’m interested in bringing more gratitude practices into our home and learning about what others do to stay on top. Please chime in the below comments and also join the Makers of Children’s MOTRIN® in sharing your unstoppable mom tips on their facebook page. For every post – the makers of Children’s MOTRIN® will donate $1 to Safe Kids, and you’ll be entered to win weekly giveaways of $100 gift cards. (For Official Rules, visit unstoppablemoms.com/rules.)