This week is Turkey Week. It is hard to believe we are moving into the holiday season. I love Thanksgiving and, in fact, it is my favorite holiday. This year will be a very different kind of Thanksgiving. As I read over the newsletter from last year I was grieving some of the traditions and events from years past that won’t happen this year but I also realized how much of what Thanksgiving is about is still something we can focus on this year. It is a time to be thankful for what we have and appreciate all of our blessings.
We might not be celebrating with a big family gathering like we had in the past but we still have our immediate family to be with and to be thankful for the time spent together. We, as a society, have had a chance to reevaluate what is important. Time spent with each other has moved up the ‘what is really important’ list. It has always been important but we had let other things move it off the priority list. What I like about Thanksgiving is that it has always had a spotlight on relationships and thankfulness. We have so much to be thankful for as we finish up the year.
This is a time to look back at what has been important to you this year. I am so thankful that our family has been able to connect online each Sunday with our Family Paris Chat. I am thankful for the chance to hear Zoe and Ansel laugh. I am thankful for the smiles I get to see during our preschool zoom sessions. I miss being able to be with people in person but I appreciate the creative ways people are finding to connect with each other. Life has definitely slowed down for some and this has given those people an opportunity to spend time doing things they wouldn’t have had time for otherwise. Other people have had to reinvent their daily activities during this pandemic and are keeping quite busy. No matter which one — busy or have more time — we have all had the time to discover what is really important to us. There are so many things I took for granted that I will cherish once we are able to return to a portion of what was normal. Hugs, snuggles and going to the grocery store without feeling nervous – ha! Take time this month to count your blessings. The biggest one for me is time with my family.
At preschool, for Turkey Week, we have always painted two big papier mache turkeys. It is so much fun to watch the kids paint these turkeys. They love it. I will have the turkeys in The Garden space during November for some gobble gobble time.
During class we will be singing about turkeys and focussing on farms, animals, family and food. We will start our Gobble Gobble songs this week and be gobbling for at least a month. When you think you have heard enough gobbling we will start ringing our bells and some of you will be thankful you can turn down the volume when we sing Ring Ring Ring Your Bells!
It is hard to believe but we are off — It is November!
~Teacher Janice
