Never-ending Thankfulness

Guess who’s back??? Kiki! We were happy to see her again in the class!

           On the big table, guess who we found? Santa Claus! Well, the miniature one. We did something special with Sayaka– we wrote a letter to Santa! We told Sayaka what we wanted for Christmas, and Sayaka wrote down what we needed to write. It was pretty exciting because it was another reminder that Christmas is coming really soon! Do you think our letters will make it to North Pole on time? Does Hanukkah have a someone like Santa, too? How about Diwali?

On the small table, we had the finger puppets that Pauline used yesterday for her Cambodia story. “Hi, my name is Cinderella,” we heard S say with her puppet. R responded with, “Hi, my name is boy, and I’m teacher!” and they pretended their puppets were going to school. “I’m Minnie!” J said, and she joined the two girls.

Some of our friends were busy on the carpet area while Kiki and Pauline were busy decorating our classroom. Rl was happily sharing his big book with his friends in the library. We cleaned up pretty early, so we can have an early park time, too.

After snacks, we got ready for park, then had our circle time. It was the second day of Hanukkah, so Pauline brought our the hanukkiah to be lit.

“Remember, we have to say our thanks before we light the candles?” Pauline reminded us. Our hands shot up, wanting to say how thankful we were.

“I am thankful for Kiki, because she is beautiful!” Y said. This made Kiki go “Awww!”

“Ohhh that’s cute!” S commented with a big smile.

“I am thankful for Chiaki because she is beautiful!” L said.

“I’m thankful for Pauline!” R began.

           “Why?” Pauline asked with a teasing grin. She began to pose like a model– haha!

           “Because she’s…. Beautiful,” R said, and we laughed.

           “Oh, that’s so sweet!” S told him.

“I was just kidding, R!” Pauline teased him. “Of course I want you to have an answer from yourself,” she said.

“Errrmmm… because Pauline is silly!” R said, and we all laughed again in agreement.

‘I like everyone,” R said. “I’m thankful for everyone,”

“I’m thankful for daddy,” S said. “Because daddy is silly. Mommy because… Mommy is happy,” S added.

“Daddy!” L piped up. “Because daddy is playing with me,” he said.

“I’m thankful for Sayaka, Kiki, and Petals Class!” Pauline said. “Because they make me happy everyday!” she told us.

“I’m thankful for your mommies and daddies,” Sayaka said. “Do you know why? Because every time we need to do something in Ohana, your moms and dads; mama and papa always come to help. Thank you so much!” Sayaka explained. That was definitely so sweet!

“My daddy is not papa,” R said. “I call my daddy, ‘daddy’’,” he explained.

“I call my daddy, ‘G’,” S said with a cheeky grin.

“I’m thankful for my friends, because they are my family here in Japan. I’m also thankful for Petals Class because they make me happy every day, too!” Kiki said.

We noticed one more teacher in the room, so we asked her, “What’s your name?”

“Yoshie,” she answered. Sometimes, we see her with R, doing some exercises or activities.

“Hi, Yoshie!” we greeted her. “What are you thankful for?” we asked her.

“Hmm.. I’m thankful for children,” she said. “Because children make me happy,” No wonder R is also happy to have her around, too!

           Pauline then lit up the shamash, and R reminded us, “It’s dangerous, fire will be inside.” C then helped Pauline light up the candles as she counted them, “One…. Two!” Then we sang “How many candles?” again. Tomorrow, we will light up the third one!

We went to the park after, and we had fun playing under the warm sun– it was just perfect, not too hot, and not too cold. How about you? How was your day?

Love,

All the festive children in Petals Class