Thanksgiving Meal- Room Mom Style!

Yesterday was hectic and buzzing with excitement and activity as we celebrated Thanksgiving in Robby's classroom. I relish my role as room mom and strive to make each celebration both fun and memorable. This year, Robby and his classmates prepared an entire turkey dinner and served it "Pilgrim style." (In case you are unaware, Pilgrim style eating is also family style, where the bowls are placed in the center of the table and everybody serves themselves.) As if making one turkey dinner with a group of 6 year olds wasn't enough work, I decided it would be nice to have the students make an additional full meal to donate to a local family in needed.

Monday morning I packed up my car with not one but two turkeys, my roaster oven, a rotisserie, my steamer, two bags of potatoes, 2 quarts of heavy cream, assorted pots and pans and all of the ingredients to make bread. It took me nearly 30 minutes to carry everything from my car into the classroom, and that was with all of the helpful little hands who assisted me. With everything spread out on the table, it quickly became clear that perhaps my plan was a tinge on the ambitious side. I took a quick trip to Starbucks during the "morning meeting" where I ordered a grande latte-with an extra shot of espresso to prepare me for the day.

We began by putting one turkey in the roaster oven and the other in the rotisserie. Using the automatic peeler, each student had a turn peeling the potatoes which were then put into the steamer to be cooked and later mashed. The bread dough was prepared and heavily kneaded (i.e. thrown around and abused) by my little assistants. Everybody was extremely well-behaved, especially considering the commotion of the classroom, and our meal slowly came together.

While the bread dough was rising, the class took turns churning butter and crafting Native American headbands. It only occurred to me after the festivities that the throwback decoration from my childhood might now be considered taboo.  I hope none of the parents were offended when their children came home proudly donning their feather headpieces!

By the time everything was prepared, the table was set and decorated with hand-print turkeys and candy corn. Everybody ate a hearty meal and seemed to thoroughly enjoy their Thanksgiving celebration. By the time we were cleaning off the last table, the lady from the food bank arrived to pick up the meal our students had prepared for a local family. Despite the chaos, it all seemed to come together.

By the time the school day ended, I was both exhausted and elated. I was smiling so much throughout the day that my cheeks were hurting.  I thoroughly enjoyed the day in Robby's class, overseeing this project. This Thanksgiving, among other blessings, I'm thankful that I am able to volunteer and spend time in Robby's class. I wouldn't have missed this experience for the world. Years from now, I doubt that Robby will be able to recall exactly what he did, but I know that he will always remember that his mom was there!