Call me ‘old fashioned,’ but I remind people to say ‘Please.’ (And welcome the reminder myself if needed.) I prefer ‘You’re welcome‘ to ‘no problem’ when I say ‘Thank you.’ (Don’t even get me started on that one!) And, when I sneeze, I love when even strangers respond with ‘Bless you,’ not ‘Gesundheit.’ These are just common courtesies that show respect and politeness.

At Thanksgiving we have an opportunity to show this respect and appreciation through saying ‘Thank You’ in all kinds of ways to all the people who bless our lives. From our partners who may put up with our bad days and funny habits (or lack of cooking skills), to our neighbors who bring in our trash cans when we’re out of town or loan us ladders or tools, to our favorite mail-person who always says ‘Hi’ and makes sure we have the correct mail, to the teacher who took a special interest in our child – we are surrounded by opportunities to show our appreciation and admiration.

The one category of appreciation recipient that is often overlooked is our friends. We can take their kindness and support for granted. We recognize when strangers go out of their way for us, but may not notice the thoughtfulness of a friend who shares her perennials with you (thanks Laura!), or buys your dinner for your birthday and gives you a gift she made for you (love you Barb!), or who takes care of your dog when you’re traveling (thanks Jill and Barney-the-dog). No official ‘Thank You’ card is sent when girlfriends put in a good word for you (thanks Joan!), make you laugh on a day when you really needed to (you know who you are girlfriends and book club!) or make your day just by sending a friendly tweet or email (Terri rocks!).

It’s Thanksgiving. Let’s give thanks.

Let’s show and tell the wonderful women in our life how much their friendship means to us. Let’s voice our appreciation and girlfriend gratitude. And, let’s make a commitment to do it all year round.

To get you started on this Thanksgiving (and these work through out the year too!), here are some ideas for showing your girlfriend gratitude (and PLEASE add your own to inspire others!):

• On the Road Kit - Is your girlfriend traveling over the holidays? Show her your appreciation for her friendship mile-after-mile-after-mile with a fun box or basket filled with her favorite treats, snacks, magazines, etc. Make her a CD with her favorite songs. Sneak in a note about how your friendship is there for her no matter where she may roam.
• Welcome Home Surprise – I got this idea from Jen and Mindy who we wrote about on Girlfriendology. Find out when she’ll be back from her travels and have a cooler of food waiting on her. In Jen and Mindy’s case, it was filled with breakfast treats and juices so the first morning back was wonderful and welcoming. Everyone loves surprises so make her day when she’s tired from traveling home.
• Hectic Holiday Help – Is there anything you can do for her to make her life easier? Can you show your girlfriend gratitude by offer to help her prepare for the big meal or give her a gift certificate from you to assist with the upcoming holiday wrapping? Can you commit to dropping off dinner once per week through the holidays or offer to watch her children while she goes out running errands and Christmas shopping? She blessed your life with her friendship. How can you show your appreciation and friendship?
• Make Time for Her – Don’t neglect your friendship due to the wild, wacky holidays. Plan time together and make it a priority. Start by making sure she has a place to go for Thanksgiving or invite her to walk, shop or hang out with you over the long weekend. Meet her for coffee or a glass of wine and have those girlfriend conversations that you need to share. Show her, with your time and actions, how much her friendship means to you.
• Wonderful Words – We think our friends just ‘know‘ how much they mean to us, right? They may, or they may not. Either way, we all love to hear kind words from a friend so … send her a card, write her a note and leave it on her car, drop off some mums with a message of appreciation – show and TELL her why her friendship is so important to you. Express your girlfriend gratitude. Share what things you love about her friendship and about her. Take a moment to really communicate how much you appreciate her and her friendship.

That’s our ideas for showing girlfriend gratitude, what are yours?

PLEASE have a wonderful Thanksgiving! And THANKS for spending some time on Girlfriendology today. Come back and visit, and please share your comments to inspire others! (And, if you sneeze, BLESS YOU!)

Tags: friendships, girlfriends, gratitude, thankful, Thanksgiving

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 25th, 2009 at 7:31 am and is filed under Girlfriend Inspiration. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.