The Tribune

By BIANCA CARTER

THIS WEEK is Thanksgiving and although I’m not an American, I do celebrate Thanksgiving as if I were.

After spending seven years living in the United States you pick up on a few things and adapt it to your life. Things like tailgating, holiday decorating, monogramming, cheese grits, biscuits and gravy, and Thanksgiving made their mark on me and that good ol’ Southern charm will forever be close to my heart.

This year, I am thankful for so much! Here are my five things to be thankful for:

1 My imperfect but perfect life

As we’ve seen recently, the world is not a peaceful place at the moment, albeit war has been a part of the world since the beginning. It just feels a little too close for comfort at the moment.

My life is not perfect, I have ups and downs like everyone and I can get down in the dumps about certain things, but this year I am thankful and grateful for my imperfect life because I realise how blessed I am to be born in a part of the world where freedom is not an illusion but rather a fact. A place where women are important, valuable and have a voice, where human beings can have a dream and work to live it - peacefully.

I realise that there are many people that don’t have that same way of life and it breaks my heart, especially seeing children suffer in some extreme circumstances. The price of freedom is high: there are people around the world that fight for it, for people they don’t even know, for you and for me.

I am thankful.

2 My big crazy family

I have a big family, lots of brothers and sisters, cousins, uncles and aunts and - like every family - we can get super loud, especially when we are all together having dinner.

Our discussions are mostly calm and collected but there are a few things we don’t always agree on, and we try our best not to talk about politics ... sometimes it works. Without each other, our lives would be dull and boring; we stick together and in the end, are always there for each other.

I am thankful.

3 My kids’ love

I am always thankful for my kids, their happiness and health, but I’m extra thankful for them this year. They are growing up a little too fast for me and officially, I have no more babies (excuse me while I cry just a little!)

What’s good about the stage that they are at now is that I can have more in-depth conversations with them; they understand life a little more and can express their feelings and emotions very well. I love being able to come in and still snuggle with them with. They can make a really bad day turn into a beautiful one.

I love hearing them say, “I love you mama” and how they take my words and use them on me, like “put on your seat belt” or “be nice to each other.” I know I’ve done something right when I hear those things.

4 Friendship

This is definitely quality over quantity. As you get older, you realise how important it is to have good, honourable friends.

I am lucky to have some really good friends that have been my friends since high school. We don’t speak every day or week but, when important things come up, they will always be there for me and me for them.

Life gets busy and time passes quickly; it’s good to know that no matter what, you can rely on a few key people to life you up.

5 You good people

I am so thankful for you all that check in on the website and blog, read our newspaper articles and interact daily with us on our Facebook and social media sites. We love hearing from you and thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Happy Thanksgiving!

What are you thankful for this year? We’d love to hear from you.

Check out our blog http://babybunintheoven.com/blog and post your comments there.

Love & Hugs!

• Bianca Carter is a Certified Lactation Counsellor (CLC), Founder of Bun in the Oven and weekend radio personality on Y98 FM. For more information, email her at info@babybunintheoven.com or bcarter@tribunemedia.net. Follow Bun in the Oven (BITO) on Facebook at babybunintheoven, and check out the BITO blog every Monday and Thursday at http://babybunintheoven.com