Hide the Thanksgiving Turkey?

I had to laugh when I read the Dose Girls’ post today: Is That Turkey Disguised as Elton John? You see, my son had to do exactly the same project for school. The gist of it is, they were sent home with a drawing of a turkey, and they were to “disguise” it so that it would not be recognizable, and therefore, saved from Thanksgiving.

Hide the Thanksgiving Turkey!

Now the project was fun, and we had a good time decorating it, but I kept wondering, “Why, exactly, are we sending the message to our kids that they should HIDE the turkey?” I mean, it was a fun project and all, but would my children be crying on Turkey Day when we sit down to our glorious turkey dinner because we are eating their now favorite animal?

I convinced myself I was just reading too much into a fun and creative project for the kids, but I made sure to tell Bug that we would, in fact, be eating turkey for Thanksgiving. And we did have fun creating it. He got crazy with the bright paints, and decided it was disguised as a Peacock. Of course, I forgot to take a picture.

But then, the day after we got the assignment, I volunteered to read a story in my daughter Bean’s preschool class. The teacher selected a book for me, and I sat down to read.

It was the story about a bunch of school children who went to visit a turkey farmer. When the farmer told the children that the turkey would all be someone’s Thanksgiving dinner, the kids hid the turkeys in their coats and snuck them on to the bus. The farmer could not find his turkeys, and they were all saved.

Now, the concept behind this is cute, but also a little disturbing. Why would we want to terrify our children or take away the joy of a good, turkey centered dinner? I was reassured when Bean told me “I’m gonna eat a big ole plate of turkey!”

Truthfully, I have been considering a more vegetarian lifestyle, largely due to all of the crap they now put in meats. But I think my one exception might be Thanksgiving dinner. I just cannot imagine eating Tofurkey and enjoying it. Y’all know I take on a lot of causes, but saving the Turkeys just ain’t one of ’em!

How do you feel about “sensitizing” children about Turkeys before Thanksgiving?

There are also new posts today:

Sunshine After the Storm where you can check out the new absolutely gorgeous Workbook that our contributor Tova has put together. Good for ALL women who want to get back in Touch with the Much!

Fight TTTS – TTTS Tuesday – Crew and Dex – in honor of their 5th birthday.

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