Day 2 - Wittle Whimsies 5-Pattern Bundle Pack WINNER!

Before I announce the winner, I just want to say Thank You for all of you who posted! It was fantastic reading everyone's stories! I have actually read through all of them three times and Rob read everyone once that I know of. We loved reading the many wonderful religious traditions and some of the lighter spirited traditions you shared... by the way, I had no idea pajamas were such a popular gift!  The thing that we love about the tradition we chose as the 'winner' (although I think everyone will agree that we're all better for having read through this list and thought about our own traditions) is that it is relevant to everyone and truly captures one of the most important parts of this holiday season... being grateful.

During this time of year it is easy to lose perspective and to forget why this holiday season is so special. The endless shopping and commitments to work and school and the Go, Go,Go part of the holidays seem to get in the way sometimes. In the end, the one thing almost everyone mentioned as part of your tradition in some way was the feeling of gratitude.  All of the good stuff comes out of our thankfulness... spending more time with our family, spending more fun time with our kids, giving to those who need help.... it all comes from being grateful for what we have regardless of where we may fall in the social or economic food chain - everyone has something they can give, even if it's just a smile to a passing stranger.  (wouldn't it be great if we all just smiled a little more?)  I know that I've had times in my life where I couldn't afford much more than being cheerful... that's ok too!

After a lot of conversation this evening, we've selected 'holdingcatsbytails' as the Day 2 winner.  Incase you missed her tradition (one that we'll be starting this year in our family), here it is:

We make a "gratitude chain" from loops of construction paper. Each child gets some number of strips (perhaps the number of the years they've had on the planet? perhaps ten . . . depending on how grousy they have been or how bad they have had the "gimmies"), and they may write on each strip the things they are grateful for -- and we go around the table & share each person's. After making our chain, we hang it somewhere conspicuous as a reminder throughout the season.

We like the idea of taking time before the craziness part starts to write down the important things & then to have a visual reminder!   Coincidently, Abby came home from school today and spent an hour making the chain at our kitchen table, then asked Rob to hang it right above her bed.  Congratulations to 'holdingcatsbytails', please send an email to sarah@bitofwhimsydolls.com letting me know whether you'd like the Wittle Whimsy 5-pattern bundle pack or the $25 Bit of Whimsy Dolls gift certificate.