School’s back in session which means I have a moment to write a post.  I love the feeling of back to school season.  The fresh start makes it a great time to set new intentions like connecting more as a family.  One of my favorite traditions at our house is to share our Rose-Thorn-Bud at dinner.  

This started years ago as sharing our Favorite thing (high) and Trouble (low) for the day.  When our son who was two he would say the exact same thing at every meal, “My favorite thing is I got to see all you guuuuys…and no trouble was.”  I can still hear that phrase in his toddler voice. 

Favorite Thing and Trouble has evolved over time to Rose-Thorn-Bud and I love that it stimulates conversation and gives us all a peek into each other’s day.  

It looks like this, with each person sharing:

• Rose: something good that happened today

• Thorn: something not so good that happened today

• Bud: something you’re looking forward to 

• Budthorn: (bonus 4th item my kids created to talk about something upcoming that induces dread i.e. vaccines, tests at school)

The only rule is that everyone has to have to have a rose.  A few times my kiddos have said it was a horrible day and there’s nothing good to share because it was a day of thorns only.  We remind them that those thorns are real.  It was a hard day.  We can experience those feelings and also find the tiniest piece of gratitude, even if it’s just that we have food to eat.  

Gratitude and connecting with others are helpful tools to improve our mental health.  If you’re looking to improve dinner time conversation, I hope you’ll give Rose-Thorn-Bud a try.