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The High Price of Being Thankful

turkey

Tis the season for homemade turkey.

If you are a parent of elementary-aged kids, then “homemade” is code for “handmade,” which basically means that the exterior of your refrigerator is coated with dozens of construction paper birds.

Mine is.

With 10 days and counting until Thanksgiving, my 7-year-old has already come home from school with no less than 14 handcrafted turkeys.

Kind of makes me wonder how much time is allotted for arts and crafts versus reading, writing and arithmetic.

Regardless, I’m happy to display my child’s feathery masterpieces. In fact, I am particularly fond of the handprint bird she made, which features exactly 10 feathers. Printed on the plumage are people, places and things that my child is most thankful for.

I smiled as I read how grateful my daughter is for “family,” “friends,” “my toys,” “going to Hawaii,” “candy,” and… “a big turkey that cost lots of money.”

Huh?

That’s where the smile disappeared.

“Big turkey”? “Lots of money”? What gives?

Turns out my little turkey has some big ears and overheard a recent conversation I had with my mom about the price I paid to purchase our Thanksgiving turkey.

The going rate in our neck of the woods for a 16-pound bird is about $22. Add that to the $16 I forked over for cranberries, sweet potatoes and corn, and the $25 I will likely have to cough up for stuffing, green beans, rolls, pie and ice cream, and gobbling til we wobble doesn’t come cheap.

Of course, I certainly didn’t expect to read about the monetary aspects of the holiday on my kid’s art project, though it did give us a chance to discuss the finer points of financing Turkey Day fixings and how bigger doesn’t always equate to better.

By the end of our conversation my daughter acknowledged that the things she’s most thankful for don’t cost a dime.

What will you be giving thanks for next Thursday?

Image by: igourmet.com

Related Articles:

Charity and the Preschooler

Keeping Kids Busy on Thanksgiving

Decorating Tips For The Children’s Thanksgiving Table

This entry was posted in Holidays and tagged , , , by Michele Cheplic. Bookmark the permalink.

About Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism. She spent the next ten years as a television anchor and reporter at various stations throughout the country (from the CBS affiliate in Honolulu to the NBC affiliate in Green Bay). She has won numerous honors including an Emmy Award and multiple Edward R. Murrow awards honoring outstanding achievements in broadcast journalism. In addition, she has received awards from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association for her reports on air travel and the Wisconsin Education Association Council for her stories on education. Michele has since left television to concentrate on being a mom and freelance writer.