I’ve never been into listing things I’m grateful for during Thanksgiving. A lot of people do it, and I find it a bit prosaic. Forgive my cynicism, dear reader, and I hope you don’t take offense if you have such a tradition. 

Our little turkeys (ahem, pumpkins) are spending Thanksgiving week with their family, and there is a sadness that I won’t be spending this special holiday with them. However, I don’t want to write a sad blog. 

So, in spite of myself, I wrote a list of 10 things I am thankful for this week. 

1. Enjoying a deep sleep without being woken up at sunrise by a little one asking if she can color. 

2.  Not having to sneak-eat my snacks or lie about the gummy bears being the spicy kind and you wouldn’t like them. 

3.  Watching Real Housewives at 11am while drinking a Bloody Mary. 

4.  Not hearing my name 343,582 times a day.  

5.  The freedom of being able to get in my car and go wherever I want, whenever I want. No diaper bags to pack. No worries about forgetting the stroller. No nap times to work around. I can oh so simply get up and go. 

6.  I can clean! And then it stays clean! For the whole day!

7.  Dinner time spent eating instead of preventing food from being thrown and drinks from being spilled. 

8.  Taking a break from conversations about why we can’t lick things that are in the refrigerator no matter how tasty they look. 

9.  Not walking upstairs and wondering why it smells like pee. 

10.   Reading and writing in peace and quiet.

While I love this freedom and time off, I would much rather the anarchy that comes with having kids in the house.

But for now, the couch, hot chocolate, and The Walking Dead are calling my name. 

Happy Thanksgiving, dear reader!