Little Gobbler

I love the Thanksgiving holiday, and I really dislike the fact that it is minimized by the hyper-commercialization of Christmas. Sometimes it seems that Thanksgiving is all but forgotten. For example, I had to look in four different stores three weeks ago for enough Thanksgiving stickers for a craft project I did with the preschool class today, and when I did find them, they were buried behind the Christmas cards. Christmas has its place and is just about everyone's favorite time of year, but I try to wait to bring the Christmas decorations down from the attic until the beginning of Advent. I don't want to minimize the Thanksgiving holiday any more than it already is.

The Second Little Nguyen's class celebrated Thanksgiving dinner today with a Friendship Feast. My love for Thanksgiving prompted me to sign up earlier in the school year to plan this celebration. I do love how the Second Little Nguyen's teacher allows all parents to become involved in planning special celebrations rather than having just one grade parent. I shared a short story and made a little turkey headband (the uses for a tagboard sentence strip are utterly unlimited!) with the children before we all headed down the hall to a larger room for our feast. Ms. Maribeth, the Second Little Nguyen's teacher, planned a little song and dance performance by the children, which was adorable, and then we all enjoyed some friendly turkey cupcakes. The Second Little Nguyen thought it was fun to have Mommy for his "teacher" for awhile, and Mommy got her fill of preschoolers!

On the way home, I said a quiet little prayer thanking God for giving me these years at home with our Little Nguyens. It could easily be so different. Days like this make me truly appreciate this blessing.