We are reading about the First Thanksgiving in first grade. Every year at this time I find myself reading to my students about the harvest and the hunters and the gatherers and I think to myself, “Thankfully I would have been a gatherer ; I would not have been a hunter .” It sounds much more peaceful, much more humane. Gather, bring in, bring together, collect. That’s the way I want to live. I think I earned a Girl Scout badge in Collecting. Then I think about myself at this time of year, searching for gifts as if they were prey, getting to the store early just to hunt down the product that inevitably will be devoured in some insignificant way and never thought of again, hunting down the ‘best’ price, even if the cost is rising out of bed at some ungodly hour! Even with Thanksgiving dinner, I find myself fantasizing about the perfect food with the perfect presentation from the perfect restaurant - and Pinterest doesn't help! I have to remind myself that It doesn
balancing life, work, and family