Thanksgiving is for giving thanks

The month of november had started with a long wait for the thanksgiving day. The teachers did a good job at school educating the kids about the holiday. Starting the month with a field trip to a native Indian village, trying out the dresses, craft work, story, play and the chapel lessons, every day chinipie had a new story to share. Oft repeated was the thankfulness prayer. With thankyou Jesus, thank you for the sun, to thankyou for the family, Chinipie is full of gratitude. When she would get really bugged by her little sister, the poor girl would innocently ask, " momma, I am thankful for sugar but why does she trouble me so much?". She did seem to accept the justification when i told her that sugar missed her and that's how she is trying to be close to her and show her love. Once the question involved the dad too.."I love papa and am thankful for him but why does he get angry with me?"All I could come up with was that he loves you and is really thankful for you and wants you to do everything in a better way..


The star question was,"why do we light fire when we do prayers - at home, mandir or even my chapel?" Following her cue, I told her that's how we thank God for providing us with everything and as lighting a candle or a lamp diya removes darkness around us, we wish to light such lamp within us while offering prayers. "is it dark inside us?" Mommy wasn't ready for all the questions that would follow if she tried to explain the euphemism to her curious 4-yr old, who no doubt, is very much capable of throwing them at her when she doesn't see them coming. Like when she showed me a very beautiful picture of a sunset she painted, after reading the book, The legend of Indian paintbrush, she asked "why there was no green in the sunset?" Now, all I could think of was of the physics explanation of the wavelength, which definitely would have bored my eager girl and I asked her instead what color ws the sun? She said "orange in the morning, a little later yellow Nd white in the afternoon.. In evening it even looks reD sometimes." "There you go! You know the answer now!" I said. " but the sun is never purple! So why does the sunset hs purple in it?" HHHEELLPP!!
Why is the dad never around when I need him the most??


So, while sugar hs been thanking me each time when I hand her a cup of water or milk, or dress her up or put her shoes on; chini declared that she would write a thank you note for all her friends. The mailman would be the first to receive the honours, it was decided. It was only fateful that as we were about to finish it off that the mail van arrived and hurriedly the name was signed and the door wS opened and momma was informed "I will be right back! and without even looking back once, an errand had to be made. While the momma anxiously stood at the curb, barefoot, lest the mailman think that her cutie bundle wAs a mail too.. The note was duly delivered to him and he, in turn, raised the note-holding hand to the mom and the little girl jogged back, beaming, " I had to make a run!"
Of course, you had to, sweet heart!


And it was decided that we would thank all our friends for 'being our friends' this thanksgiving and when we were all set for the journey, chini said, "I am so excited, but where are we going NEXT thanksgiving?"