Every year it seems, the retail world starts pushing Christmas earlier and earlier.  This year, for instance, the Snow Globes at Willow Bend Mall in Plano (recreating the magic of Polar Express), kicked off on November 7.  While I love the display, I have to ask….really?!? On November 7 in Texas, it’s at least 75 degrees and the kids are just getting out of their Halloween costumes.  Do we really need to be pushing Santa Claus, holiday toys, and wish lists?

Well, today, I was happily reminded that our schools, at least, have not forgotten about Thanksgiving.  I attended the Thanksgiving Feast at my 3-yr old’s pre-school, where all 125 or so children joined together for a true childhood Thanksgiving tradition – sitting Indian-style on a shiny gymnasium floor side by side with their classmates for a meal together.  As they filed in one by one to take their place along the two rows of plastic tablecloths running the length of the gym, I saw head-dresses labeled with names like “Fast as a Rabbit”, “Strong as a Bear”, and “Quick as a Fox”.  Feathers, leaves, construction paper tee-pees, and toilet-paper-roll turkeys decorated the “tables”.  Some of the kids wore beaded necklaces, and teachers wore traditional Native American beads.

After all the classrooms were seated, the parents were treated to a mini-concert of Thanksgiving songs.  I was impressed with the patience of the kids to sing the few songs — they were probably very hungry and had some food already on their plates waiting to be eaten.  But as a parent who wonders what her 3-yr-old does at school all day, and whose only answer when asking him what he did during those hours is “nothing” (albeit sweetly), I appreciated hearing the songs.  And when all the kids belted out “5 Fat Turkeys Are We”, my heart lept to see my little boy smiling and singing and doing the actions to the song along with his friends.

After the turkey was eaten and dessert “gobbled” up, some of the kids left home with parents and some returned to their classrooms.  I got a very hyper Jack buckled up in his carseat and we headed for home together.  He re-sang some of the songs to me, and I joined in where I could.  As we pulled into our neighborhood, I thought I’d turn this into a learning opportunity and so I asked him what he was thankful for.

• Me:  “Honey, what are you thankful for?”

• Jack:  Blank look from the backseat.

• Me:  “What are you so thankful to have?  Like for me, it’s to have Daddy, you, Luke, and our wonderful family.”

• Jack:  Still looking blankly at me – clearly did not understand or relate to what I was talking about.

• Me:  (Trying to bring the examples down to something more easily relatable by a 3 yr old…)  “I’m also thankful for our beautiful home, for the doggies and the kitties, for my work, for Grandma & Grandpa.”

• Jack:  Big smile as understanding set in.  “I’m thankful for playing!”

Well said, honey!

His simple comment made me think how important it is on Thanksgiving to remember all that we’re thankful for …. and that in a 3-yr-old’s world, those “big” items of gratitude may be as small (to an adult) as his teddy bear, getting to watch Diego at 5:30pm everyday while Mommy makes dinner, or his favorite book of Fairy Tales that we read every night before bed.  And that his list of things to be grateful for includes such simple items as those gives me yet another reason to say thanks:  his basic needs are met (and then some), so he’s not having to worry about health, being with loved ones, having a roof over our heads, or enough food on the table.

It was also a reminder that in the rush of the holiday, one of the most important things will be to force myself to take time-outs for playing.  This means more to him right now than if the turkey is browned just right, or the pies cooked to perfection.  And, no doubt, a memory of playing as a family on Thanksgiving day will last us both a lot longer than a memory of that second helping of mashed potatoes.