“If you’re grateful and you know it, clap your hands…” — Saint Patrick Academy Third Grade Class

The school my daughters attend holds several assemblies each month to bring the school community together. I made it a point to go to a recent one because my younger daughter, who is in Kindergarten this year, was representing her class and speaking to the school community. I, of course, wanted to see her tiny self hold the microphone and talk to the almost 200 people in the audience. It was awesome, by the way.

What I didn’t know before I arrived was that the purpose of this assembly was to kick off the upcoming month’s virtue. Each month the school community focuses on a particular virtue—things like kindness, generosity, patience, and gratitude. The students learn about what each virtue is and how it looks in action, and they are encouraged to practice the virtue over the course of the month.

The virtue for the upcoming month was gratitude. I sat there for a moment thinking about how I had almost decided not to go to the assembly. It would have been very easy to justify missing it. I was already signed up to volunteer at the school almost every day that week and it wasn’t necessarily convenient to add another school visit to my calendar. I had a lot of other things to do, and other ways I wanted to spend my time. The assembly was only about 15 minutes long, about one third the amount of time it takes to drive to the school and back home. She actually didn’t even see me sitting in the back of the room behind the sea of students, so I could have missed it without her being aware that I had.

I showed up, however, and I held my breath as I watched my little girl speak confidently to her community. Then I laughed as I watched the third grade class do a skit about gratitude, enjoying their silliness and the obvious pleasure they felt performing for their peers. I was reminded just how precious these little moments are. They seem small, they may not feel convenient, they may even feel bothersome at times. But they are precious, so precious, and I was grateful that I had allowed myself to be present for them that day.

Today, and every day, let’s make room for the little things, whatever they are—a good cup of coffee, a friendly hello from a stranger, a rainbow sighting, a school assembly, or something else. Let’s be present with these small moments, enjoy them, and feel grateful that we have them.

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