The Pear Tree

Our little tree is only a few days old but already its branches, which creep up the kitchen wall toward the ceiling, are replete with colourful leaves.

With its craft paper trunk and construction paper leaves, our tree would be better suited to a kindergarten classroom than our (ahem) stylish cooking area, but it serves an important purpose in our home, over and above being a colourful, autumn decoration.

I’ve wanted to have a Thanksgiving tree ever since a friend of mine wrote about hers two years ago, on her blog, nilsenlife.blogspot.com. I waited until this year to try it because I felt my kids, now aged four and two, were still too young earlier to understand and express gratitude for random, off-the-top-of-your-head things. (We still might be pushing it this year – especially for Miss Two, but we are pretty lax with the rules and mostly just try to have fun.)

The idea is, in the run-up to Thanksgiving Day, to take a minute or two each day to think about what you’re thankful for. Write it down on a leaf, and attach it to your tree. By Thanksgiving Day, we should have a tree full of reminders of how blessed we are.

There are lots of positive illustrations you can make from the activity, not the least of which is that thankfulness grows beauty in your life.

Let’s face it, in our culture where, even in recession times, clothes, toys, food and electronics are cheap and easy to obtain, it’s hard not to take such luxuries for granted. I know I do. I don’t want to, but I do.

It takes a concerted effort not to feel martyred when my cell phone dies or one of our two cars needs a new battery. I need to put things into perspective when I bemoan the fact that I can’t afford that sweet little skirt from Anthropologie or the adorable heritage house I’ve had my eye on since the For Sale sign went up last summer.

Of course, material things are not all I want my family to be thankful for. I want them to learn early on to recognize that time with family and friends, a play in the park, a walk on the beach collecting feathers and sticks, or a game of one-on-one football are all things that should be cherished as moments that make our lives richer and more wonderful.

I believe strongly that an essential part of living a happy life is recognizing and giving thanks for the moments and memories that we live.

Here is a sampling from some of our leaves so far:

“I’m thankful for treats” (Oliver, 4).

“Garden” (Amélie, 2. At least that’s what we think she said. And since she didn’t correct us when we said it back to her, we’re going with it!).

“Breakfast and coffee. Especially coffee” (Mr. Pear Tree).

“Early morning walks in a colour-filled park” (me).

Oh, and one more thing I’m thankful for? This time spent together every morning after breakfast, sharing the things that rock our world. Perhaps tomorrow I’ll write that one on my leaf.

- Words and photos by Lori-Anne Poirier

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