Advent Calendar with a Twist

I didn't get around to making leaves for my thankful tree, which made me sad because the kids loved it last year. It meant cutting twenty-eight leaves and punching them and tying yarn loops through the holes so we could write down something we were thankful for daily, the week before Thanksgiving. My brilliant plan this year, was to laminate them to be used year after year, but it didn't happen. 

Part of my perfectionism recovery is to practice coming up with a Plan B. Perfectionist me doesn't like Plan Bs because they're not quite as nice as Plan As. I can hardly think straight because I keep tripping over how far short of Plan A Plan B actually falls. My husband is tutoring me though. He talks me through it, emotionally prying my fingers off Plan A, which I'll admit is sometimes fantastic - in a fantasy sort of way. Clearly, we're not superheros, nor are we omniscient, so we will not be reseeding the yard, cleaning the house, running twenty errands and watching the kids all in one afternoon. Obviously. Who would even attempt that? Really. 

He helps me develop something earthling-worthy and usually easier than what I'd imagined. The talking also sorts out what's most important about what we're attempting to do. This time, with the thankful situation, I was most excited for the kids to become conscious of their blessings. Brian said, "Why don't you just make a list?" Well, I do have some pretty scrap paper that needs used. And the kids are already asking me how long until Christmas. We could count down to Christmas with our thankful list! So I put lines on paper and posted them on the fridge, one for Cadence and one for Chandler. We start tomorrow and I wonder if we don't need the thankfulness more leading up to the biggest gift-getting holiday than we did before Thanksgiving. Maybe plan B is not so bad after all.