For many, our standards for being thankful have gotten pretty steep.
In Tuesday’s paper, we listed what several local young students said they were grateful for this
Thanksgiving. The stacks of thanks that come into our office each year are towering, and we adults might
learn a lot from their simple statements.
As adults, we often forget to appreciate the people we have been tied to since birth. But not these kids.

One second-grader got right to the point. “I am thankful for my mom and dad because without them I would
not be alive.”
Others were a little more descriptive. “My dad gives me piggy back rides when I am scared. … My mom
cooks me great food and she helps me with my homework,” a second-grader penned.
“I’m thankful for family because family has your back every step of the way,” a fifth-grader stated.
“I am thankful for my dad because he gave a teddy bear to me. It was awesome,” a first-grader wrote.
Some were very specific. One was grateful for “intelligent parents to help with school work.” Another
voiced thanks for parents who are “very understanding when I forget to do homework for school.”
One third-grader was thankful for his family believing in him.
“They know I can do it when I say I can’t.”
And some were happy for furrier family members.
“I’m thankful for my dog because he snuggles with me.”
Some letters took a sad tone, but offered thanks anyway.
“I’m thankful for my grandma even though she passed away she taught me how to do a headstand,” a
third-grader said.
“I’m grateful for baby sister. I know she is dead, but she is still in my heart,” another wrote.
And one offered thanks ahead of time for a long life ahead.
“I am thankful for my life because you live and you die. I do not want to die in my life until I’m 100
years old.”
Some were big picture kind of kids.
“I’m thankful for earth because I would not have any friends. If there was no earth, I would not be
here,” a second-grader said.
Several students expressed thanks for those they felt made the world a better place: Soldiers,
firefighters, police officers, the president, doctors, teachers and God.
“I am thankful for police because they catch all of the bad guys,” wrote one second-grader.
“I’m thankful for the veterans that keep me safe and sound,” a fifth-grader wrote.
“I’m thankful for the school because we wouldn’t know anything,” a second-grader penned.
They said thanks for air to breathe, roofs over their heads, the game of basketball, Pokemon cards and
strength.
“If we didn’t have strength we couldn’t pick up stuff,” a third-grader wrote.
“I’m thankful for games because they keep me from being bored,” a child said.
They offered thanks for things many of us take for granted.
“I am thankful for my car because it takes me places so we don’t need to walk,” a first-grader wrote.
“I am thankful for my house because I live in it. My mom cooks in it,” recorded a second -grader.
“I am thankful for electricity because we would not have TV, iPods, DS games,” wrote a third-grader. “I
am happy that we have the sun because if we didn’t have it the whole world would be dark.”
Food was on young minds.
“If I didn’t have food I would be hungry and would need to eat food I don’t like,” a third-grader wrote.

“I am thankful for liquids because if I didn’t have them, I could not drink,” another scribbled.
Some were grateful for family recipes.
“I don’t know what you do to make turkey at your house, but at my house we make it with 50 percent turkey
and 50 percent love,” a fifth-grader wrote.
Shelter also ranked high.
“I am thankful for my house because if I didn’t have one I would get really cold in the winter,” wrote a
third-grader.
And clothing.
“I am thankful for my clothes because if I didn’t have any I couldn’t go anywhere,” another third-grader
said.
But above toys and food, it’s people who counted the most.
“I’m thankful for my friends too. They always play with me unless their mom and dad says no,” a
second-grader wrote. “Then finally my cousins. Well, they’re kind of my family and friends rolled into
one.”
And one said he could not possibly list everything he was grateful for, since “it would take 20 more
pages.”
We all ought to have the same depth of thankfulness.