What is thanksgiving?

What is thanksgiving?

    According to my son Thanksgiving has three different meanings (each a different answer to the same question asked by three different adults).  He told his grandma (a pastor) it is "giving thanks to God."  He told his teacher it is "a day to remember to thank the Indians for teaching our past people to plant food.  We wouldn't be here today without it."  He told his daddy it is "a day we eat with each other at the table and be thankful for it."  These are the things he thinks of when he thinks of this holiday.

    According to my daughter Thanksgiving has two meanings.  She told her teacher it is "a day to remeber to thank everyone you see and give away all you have."  She told her grandma it is "the day you eat the turkey with your mommy and daddy, if you can catch it."  The last part of this came from watching a television program where they actually shot their own turkeys, unlike us, we go to the store.

    My son is six and my daughter four.  I thought I would share their ideas for this holiday as there are so many comercialistic views on it (and many other holidays) and so many "we don't celebrate because..." that I thought it would be refreshing to hear about some basic beliefs from those who don't know about monetary gains and anti-holiday spirits.  The best way to understand a holiday is to look at it from a child's point of view.  So ask your children what they think, you might get a nice suprise.