Grateful

The first present Isaac received on Christmas morning was a kid-sized pair of gardening gloves, which were sticking out of the top of his stocking. As soon as he got them on his hands, he tried to leave the room, figuring Christmas was done. So we could have stopped with the gloves.

Even if that is a slight exaggeration, Isaac would have been just as happy with far fewer presents. Happier, maybe, because then he would have had the chance to play with some of them, instead of having to stop playing to open more. But there is something worse than having to take a toy away from your child so he'll settle down and open more presents -- it's when your child mindlessly rips the paper off one present, immediately tosses it aside, and greedily looks for the next one. That didn't happen this year, but I saw it foreshadowed when a temporarily wild-eyed Isaac grabbed up one of my unopened presents instead of waiting politely to be handed one of his own. I took it away from him and the moment passed, but for a moment I felt a chill. I want him to be grateful, and to appreciate what he has.

Isaac is a grateful kid, actually. He says "thank you" frequently and without prompting, although not always in the circumstances you would expect. He still thanks my father about once a day for giving him my brother's old toy bulldozer -- whenever Isaac pretends to make a phone call or write a letter, he says, "Dear Opa, thank you for the push-bulldozer." He nearly always thanks the person who has prepared his meal (and he compliments the food, too). And tonight when I reminded Isaac that his Dad and Mama had given him his beloved toy vacuum for Christmas, he immediately went running to find Craig to thank him.

Most intriguingly, something about exchanging gifts this Christmas made Isaac realize that every single item in our home has a provenance -- either someone gave it to us, or we had to get it ourselves. Tonight he was asking me where we got his night-light, his CD player, and even the bookcases in his room! That kind of awareness seems like it would encourage gratefulness, because nothing can be taken for granted.

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In addition to complimenting the cook, Isaac has just started giving personal compliments. A few days ago he turned to my dad and said, completely unexpectedly, "I like your blue and black jacket, Opa."

Dad, I hope you remembered to thank him!