“Pooooooor Horatio!!”
(image from fanpop.com)
There is an old episode of the Andy Griffith show where the main character Sheriff Andy Taylor is trying to explain to his son, Opie, about donating to a worthy cause of underpriviliged boys . Opie has only wanted to donate $.03 cents and Andy is trying to explain to him the need to donate more by telling him there are “1.5 needy boys per square mile in their county alone.” Opie tells his dad that he has never seen a “half boy” before. Andy is trying to explain that it is just a “ratio… a mathematical equation.” Opie misunderstands completely and thinks that Andy is talking about a single half boy named “Horatio.” Andy tells him to forget about all that, but Opie shakes his head and says, “It’s hard to forget about a thing like that, Pa….a thing like a half boy.” Then he goes on to make the punch line of the whole scene by saying, “Pooooor Horatio.” We have laughed about that scene in our family and it has become a “saying” mocking the way Opie says poooor Horatio.
Well, that’s how I feel about Thanksgiving. Poooooooor Thanksgiving. Christmas decorations go up the day after Halloween and inadvertantly Thanksgiving gets the short end of the stick. I love Thanksgiving. It’s when Mississippi finally (well most of the time) enters fall. It’s the biggest SEC rivalry of our state – The Egg Bowl, it’s when all our families get together…not for gifts, but for food and time together. It is relaxed and not rushed, and in our family it is two days long. We get to celebrate with Matt’s family on Thanksgiving day and my family on Friday after Thanksgiving. We have never done the “Black Friday” thing because we are always hanging with our family. I’m usually in boots (you know, the important things) and I have made Momma Rose’s pecan pie. More on that pie soon.
Sooooo….I am always trying to find ways to make our holidays about the true reason of the holiday instead of the commercialism aspects of the holiday. I want my children to enjoy Thanksgiving as I have always done and really take the time to acknowledge how truly blessed we are.
The Turkey on the Table does just that. Two moms, April and Kerry, decided they wanted to encourage thankfulness and giving to their young children to help them focus on the things they have rather than the things they don’t have.
They created this cute little kit that comes with a stuffed turkey, several “feathers,” a pen, and a sweet little book that explains the whole thing. With each purchase you not only get a stuffed turkey for your table, but they donate 10 meals to those in need so you are putting actual turkey on someone else’s table. How it works is that each day you write on your feathers in the kit what you are thankful for and stick them in the turkey’s little paperclips. By the end of the month you have listed all the things you are grateful for and can read them back that day and for years to come. It can also be used at a dinner party by giving every one a feather at their table setting. By the end of the night, you collect all your guests’s feathers to see what you as a group are thankful for that evening. It’s precious for a classroom, a hostess gift, or for the office. The possibilities are endless. Our little family read this book on November 1, and have been writing on our feathers each day. My children love it…even the girls are starting to grasp the concept. You can find it online here.
(image from Turkey On the Table website)
I think you’ll like this little turkey, but I know you’ll love the mindset of thankfulness and giving it puts your whole family in. Maybe we can impact enough people where we don’t have to say, “Pooooooor Thanksgiving” and we will never have to have the “Pooooor Horatio” conversation with our own children.
Happy November!
Amberly
***We were not financially compensated for this post. No samples or items were received. All items were personally purchased. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.***
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