Best of 2012 - From 21 Days of Gratitude to 365

Before sharing my Best of 2012 post for inclusion with the Kid Blogger Network Best of 2012 Blog Hop, I have to say that blogging in 2012 was a Best of experience for me personally for the year. Though I have had this blog for more than 5 years (my brother set it up for me when I was training for a 30 mile run for my 30th birthday), after the run it set largely idle until February of 2012 when I discovered other Kid/Mom Blogs and realized the value in finding my voice as a writer, educator, artist and mother. Sharing my best post of 2012 as part of the Kid Blogger Network makes me smile as it represents the supportive parenting and writing community I have found online through KBN and the creativity and intentional/awake parenting that, already a goal for me, became further encouraged and supported through the virtual community I discovered.

The post I have chosen as my Best of 2012 is my second most popular of the year (though not posted until late in the year), the post that received the most comments, many repins, and a post that I love because of how much we gained as a family from the activity shared in the post: Daily Gratitude Postcards (for the month of November as part of our participation in 21 Days of Gratitude from Inspired by Family Magazine).

Not only did this daily practice of gratitude benefit Wild Thing, my 3 year-old, in understanding the value of gratitude and of being thankful, but it helped me to have a mindset focused on seeing all there is to be grateful for in our lives, a habit that extended beyond the 21 Days. As another bonus, the daily gratitude postcards also proved to be a great activity for early literacy with Wild Thing, who learned how to spell Dad through the process of making postcards for his father. (I love activities that provide learning opportunities through real life practice and this is certainly one of my favorites in that category).

I invite and encourage you to consider picking up some of these pre-stamped blank postcards the next time you are at the post office and making gratitude postcards a habit/practice for your family - it could be a weekly or monthly activity encouraging you as a family to look back at the previous week or month and send notes of gratitude based on something special from that week, or they could be a great way to say thank you to relatives and friends for holiday gifts. In short, this is the Best of 2012 for me because it instilled in me a very positive habit to carry into 2013. 

Please enjoy checking out the Best of from many other KBN bloggers, all of whom I am grateful for! Here is the wonderful list of co-hosts for this special blog hop!  

52 Brand New ~ Adventures in Mommydom ~ angeliquefelix.com - The Magic Of Play ~ At home with Ali B-Inspired Mama ~ Blog Me Mom ~Boy Mama Teacher Mama ~ Busy Kids = Happy Mom Carrots Are Orange ~ Caution! Twins at Play ~ Coffee Cups and Crayons ~ Confessions of a Montessori Mom Craft To Art ~ Creative Family Fun ~ Creative Kid Snacks ~ Creative Learning Fun ~ Creative Playhouse Creative with Kids ~ Cute and Peculiar ~ De tout et de rien: Activités pour le Préscolaire ~ Dirt And Boogers Edventures with Kids ~ Enchanted Homeschooling Mom ~ The Good Long Road ~ Frogs and snails and puppy dog tails Glittering Muffins ~ Go Kid Yourself ~ Growing A Jeweled Rose ~ hands on : as we grow ~ Here Come the Girls Home Learning Journey ~ Housing A Forest ~ Mama Smiles ~ In Lieu of Preschool ~ Inspiration Laboratories Inspired by Family ~ It's A Long Story ~ JDaniel4's Mom ~ Kids Creative Chaos ~ Kid World Citizen Kindergarten & Preschool for Parents & Teachers ~ Kitchen Counter Chronicles ~ Laughing Kids Learn ~ Learn with Play at home Lessons Learnt Journal ~ Life At The Zoo ~ Little Artists ~ Living Life Intentionally ~ Living Montessori Now ~ Love, Play, Learn Loving My Nest ~ Mama Pea Pod ~ mama miss ~ Mamas Like Me ~ Mess For Less ~ Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas ~ Momma's Fun World Montessori Tidbits ~ My Buddies and I ~ My Little Bookcase ~ My Nearest and Dearest ~ No Twiddle Twaddle ~ Nurturestore Octavia and Vicky ~ One Perfect Day ~ ourfeminist{play}school ~ Picklebums ~ Play Activities ~ Playdough to Plato PlayDrMom ~ playful learners ~ playing with words 365 ~ PragmaticMom ~ Putti'sWorld ~ RainbowsWithinReach Rainy Day Mum ~ Raising Playful Tots ~ Reading Confetti ~ Red Ted Art ~ Royal Baloo ~ Science Sparks ~ Scribble Doodle and Draw Small Potatoes ~ Smiling like Sunshine ~ Sun Hats & Wellie Boots ~ Sun Scholars ~ Teach Preschool ~ The Educators' Spin On It The Fairy and The Frog ~ The Freckled Homeschooler ~ The Golden Gleam ~ The Imagination Tree ~ The Iowa Farmer's Wife The Outlaw Mom Blog ~ The Pleasantest Thing ~ This Reading Mama ~ Toddler Approved ~ Train Up a Child ~ True Aim Two Big Two Little ~ What Do We Do All Day? ~ Connecting Family and Seoul

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