Off with Your Head Day..."

We have started a new tradition in the Black family household. It all started with one of our favorite children's books: It Happened in Pinsk by Arthur Yorinks and Richard Egielski. The book is about a man, Irv Irving, that has a great life, but only sees what others have that he doesn't. So on the morning of March 19th, he wakes up to find that he has lost his head. His wife fashions him a new one out of a pillowcase stuffed with socks. He then tries to go about his day but is mistaken for 3 different people. Through this experience, he learns that his life isn't so bad after all and that he has everything he really needs and wants. He does eventually find his head and he "was not known to complain, hardly ever again."

We decided to celebrate March 19th as "Off with Your Head Day." It would be a day of fun, food and focusing not on what we don't have, but on what we do have and how great our life really is.

We started off by making our own "pillowcase" heads.

Then we ate a delicious dinner of roast and veggies...and for dessert, chocolate pie (see my last post for the recipe). At the dinner table we talked about being content and I asked the children to tell me 3 things that they liked about their lives.

Dawson:

1. family
2. friends
3. that he exists

Carter:

1. family
2. toys
3. helping Mommy cook

Genevieve:

1. doing art/coloring
2. eating breakfast
3. drinking milk

It was such a pleasant meal! No complaining or fighting...just spending time together focusing on what really matters. We ended the night with a family reading of It Happened in Pinsk, prayer and song. All in all...a great evening...and the start of a great tradition!