Thanksgiving is a time to celebrate with the ones we hold dearest – our little one/ones, significant others, and our dear friends and family. My family had our own Thanksgiving celebration this weekend, (before several families were traveling out of town for the week), and I got to spend time with some of the people I’m most thankful for. I’m also grateful for each of you because without your encouragement and support I would not have made it this far.

Somehow, Thanksgiving has also come to represent the beginning of hectic and frazzled shopping! As my girlfriends know I have always disliked shopping. It’s just not my thing. I even beg my husband to go shopping for me! It should come as no surprise then that I just can’t do the traditional “Black Friday” sales. I went once with my mother-in-law – we were up by 4 am, and spent the next 9 hours frantically going from one crowded store to the next. It was exhausting, and not at all fun!

As bad as that was, at least it was contained to the day after Thanksgiving, leaving us with all of Thanksgiving Day together to be thankful for exactly what we had (and not itching for what we didn’t yet have). Now, six years later, many stores are opening on Thanksgiving evening! The outlet mall near me opens at 6 pm on Thanksgiving Day and stays open all night long. It feels like the death of Thanksgiving to me!

In the spirit of family and comfort and all things cozy I hope you stay home this Thanksgiving and enjoy it with those you love and don’t rush out for those Thanksgiving Day sales! After all, the things that matter most are not things. I hope you #optfamily #bebravely

My little ones and my spouse are what I’m most thankful for this Thanksgiving. Both my boys are growing up so fast, my youngest is 2 and my oldest is 5; it seems like just yesterday I was giving birth to my oldest. I can count on one hand the number of toys they play with weekly, but the memories are already countless. Two-thirds of the stuff they got last Christmas wasn’t really “interesting” to them after a few weeks.

What they really love is my time and attention or dad’s time and attention. My youngest just wants me to sit down and play cars with him (it’s a daily routine). My 5 year old just wants dad to go build with him in the garage with power tools of course (which I’m still not sure about) but they sure do have fun building together. They build simple stuff too like a fishing pole, or a wood “trap” or a pretend airplane made out of wood.

When I started Kindred Bravely last year I set out to do two things: make moms comfortable, (god knows life is hard enough as it is) and make moms day a little easier. I still run Kindred Bravely out of my office/guest bedroom at home and most of my working hours get crammed into the end of the day after the kids are asleep.

Be you bravely, 
Deeanne