Not the turkey type, the passing comments that make you go "huh?".
On Thursday I was in Katherine's class with a couple other moms for two hours, playing games, showing slides, eating (of course) and doing crafts. The craft I brought in was a Thankful Tree. Baseically a bare tree on cardstock and the kids traced their hands, wrote all the things they were thankful for on them and then I attached them on to the tree as the leaves. No, I forgot to take a picture of it so you can't see it!
When I was explaining the craft to the group, I asked them to think of things they were thankful for, so that everyone would have the basic idea. One girl right away said she was thankful for her birth mom letting her be adopted. OK, if that doesn't bring a tear to your eye, I don't know what would. Then a boy said he was thankful for his two families. I gave him a quizzical look and he said he was adopted too. This really took me aback, because he was in Katherine's class last year and the summer before was the whole birthday invitation weirdness. This was Wendell Macapagal.
I told him that I never knew he was adopted and that it was a wonderful thing to be thankful for both your families.
He followed with "Did you know Monday is a holiday? It's supposed to be Tuesday but my aunt changed it. My aunt is the President, you know."
Yes, I did know, and I still had to fight to not laugh out loud. What he said wasn't that funny and I wasn't ridiculing it at all, but just the way the thoughts rolled off his tongue... I thought it was kinda charming! I have to say that Wendell is a really nice kid, always has been and I didn't find his comments irritating like I might have from a different child.
OK, then today the AmeriKids had their celebration which they shared with twenty kids from an orphanage. They went to the playground, blew bubbles, shared in a turkey feast and gave out gifts along with stacks of donated items for the orphanage. On the way to join the kids, I was in the car listening to the radio. There's always something interesting that makes me laugh or go "huh?" and today was no exception.
First item: Apparently someone in Vancouver, CA decided today should be a day of simplicty and they encouraged folks to stay out of the stores and avoid consumerism. Any red-blooded American knows what today is... Black Friday. Of course, in the Philippines (and Canada too), the "day after Thanksgiving mob at the mall" means nothing. I just had to chuckle.
Second item: Today in Charlottesville, VA is "Cut Your Christmas Tree Day". The DJ said "They must have a lot of pine trees. Reminds me of Baguio". Anyone who makes that sort of comparison needs a vacation to our pine tree forests. I wonder if they'd think it reminded them of Baguio then. Again, I had to chuckle.
As for us, the turkey is just about gone, I went through the gifts we've bought for the kids, I wrote our Christmas letter and we're making our plans for Bohol. Our last holiday season in the Philippines? Where has the time gone?
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