The Meaning of Thanksgiving . . . to a 3-year Old

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.  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 the day 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 to not forget to play with kids, which will create a more lasting memory for them than the turkey, casseroles, or pie.