Preparing for Thanksgiving . . . in England?

It's getting busier at school as the kids rehearse and prepare for both my class's little Thanksgiving performance and for the school Nativity play.  Yes, Thanksgiving AND Christmas.  Picture me trying to get 30 squirmy, energetic, impulsive, talkative, constantly-poking-each-other 6-year-olds with NO OFF SWITCH to rehearse two little Thanksgiving skits that they will perform (God willing) for a school assembly.  It's a bit like herding butterflies, and me without a net.  Now, picture children ages 4 to 6 (the three "infants" classes--reception, year one, and my class) rehearsing for the Christmas play . . . 85 OF THEM! . . . with only three teachers to wrangle them.  They do this every year, so apparently it's doable.  Pass the Advil, please.


My kids had fun making these silly turkeys.

It's been interesting teaching my students about the American tradition of Thanksgiving.  I think, as an American, I tend to assume that, surely, the rest of the world knows about our American Thanksgiving, but they really don't.  (That's one thing I've learned on this journey--not to assume.)   So now, with this little assembly we're putting together on Monday that consists of a couple of short YouTube videos and the children's skits (imagine the Wampanoag Indians with English accents), the parents and the rest of the school will know about Thanksgiving as well.  One boy's mom reminded me of a typical Steele parent because she offered right off the bat to make Pilgrim hats and collars, so the kids will be decked out in a little bit of costuming (over their school uniforms) to delineate the Indians from the Pilgrims.  Very cute.  On Wednesday (not quite Thanksgiving Day, but close enough), Trudy, the head dinner lady, is graciously and enthusiastically preparing a Thanksgiving dinner for the school.  Get this: you can't find canned pumpkin here for pumpkin pies, so Trudy has ordered it online!  How sweet is that!  She's pretty sure the kids won't like pumpkin pie, but she's giving it a go.  I'll give you a report.

I'm looking forward to Georgie and Carolyn's (Mrs. Barnes and Mrs. Norris) visit next week!!  I can't believe they are actually coming!  They'll spend a couple of days in London before coming here, so I'll see them on Tuesday.  They will have Thanksgiving dinner at the school on Wednesday and get to see where I'm teaching.  Then, the rest of the week while I'm at work (yes, even on Thanksgiving day--waahh!), they will go and explore this lovely area of England.  We have things planned for the evenings they are here--dinner at a friend's house, a pub night, and going to the big Christmas market in Birmingham.  Their visit is one more thing to add to my list of things to be thankful for during this holiday season.  Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!