Being content with what you have

To reflect upon all the things for which we should be very grateful.

by Jenny Tuxford

Suitable for Key Stage 2

Aims

To reflect upon all the things for which we should be very grateful.

Preparation and materials

• In class, tell the children the story of the town mouse and the country mouse. Discuss it and ask for the children’s opinions. What things about their lives would they like to change? Are there any aspects that they feel they take for granted? What are they particularly grateful for?
• The poems may be acted out with puppets, or told in a sequence of still pictures/tableaux.

Assembly

1. The town mouse and the country mouse
   
   Once there lived two little mice
   and their tale we’ll tell you now.
   One lived in the country
   and the other lived in Slough.
   
   The country mouse was happy
   living in a wood
   with fresh air, friends and freedom.
   Life was really good!
   
   He slept on scraps of sheep’s wool,
   lulled by ducklings quacking.
   He wore a tiny waistcoat
   made from bits of sacking.
   
   ‘How lucky that I live here,’
   said the country mouse one day.
   ‘I’ll ask my friend the town mouse
   if he’d like to come and stay.’
   
   And so the chubby mouse from Slough
   visited his chum,
   but he was filled with horror.
   ‘Pal, you live in a slum.’
   
   ‘I’ve prepared a tasty meal,’
   said the little country mouse.
   And he led the way to the hide-y hole
   that acted as his house.
   
   ‘We’ll have berries for our starters,’
   said the country mouse with pride.
   ‘And dandelion leaves and seeds
   with corn grains on the side.’
   
   ‘What! No tomato ketchup?
   No fries? No garlic bread?
   I can’t eat muck,’ the rude mouse said.
   ‘You must come to me instead.’
   
   So the country mouse agreed
   to fetch his things, without a fuss.
   The two then headed townwards
   on a 12.20 bus.
   
   Several hours later
   the two arrived in Slough.
   They made it from the station,
   though I couldn’t tell you how.
   
   People asked for money;
   they were shooed from place to place.
   They filled in eighteen questionnaires
   before they finally touched base.
   
   The town mouse very proudly
   opened up the door.
   ‘No mud or leaves in here,’ he said.
   ‘And carpets on the floor.’
   
   ‘Help yourself to burgers,
   some bread and cakes and jelly.
   We’ll have a glass of lemonade,
   then see what’s on the telly.’
   
   The two began to settle down
   to a scrumptious looking tea,
   when out walked three enormous cats!
   The two mice had to flee.
   
   ‘You hurry out and grab some food
   and I’ll keep watch from here.
   Then I’ll go out and snatch a cake
   when the coast is clear.’
   
   ‘Thank you,’ said the country mouse,
   ‘for making that suggestion,
   but all this insecurity
   is bad for my digestion.
   
   ‘I don’t like being frightened
   when I’m about to dine
   and I don’t much like your little house,
   so I’m heading back to mine.’
2. The tale of the town mouse and the country mouse just goes to show that the ‘grass isn’t always greener’ on the other side of the fence! People who seem to be much better off than we are may have a great deal to put up with, about which we know nothing.
   
   The next poem is written by someone who definitely appreciates his home. I hope you do, too!
3. I am content with what I have
   
   There is no place like home!
   My house is quite a small house.
   It’s where I work and play and rest.
   Mum says it needs a lot of work,
   but I think it’s the best.
   
   Maybe there are some things
   I’d like to rearrange,
   but would I want a different home?
   No! I’d never change.
   
   In my heart, my little house
   has a very special spot.
   I don’t want to live elsewhere,
   not even Granny’s yacht.
   
   My dad is quite a cool dad.
   He’s tall and very strong.
   He helps me with my homework
   (which we usually get wrong!).
   
   In a ‘best dad’ competition,
   my dad would come out top.
   (You might think that yours is better,
   but I’d never, ever swap.)
   
   My mum’s a really lovely mum,
   the best that there could be.
   She tells me to work hard at school –
   she wants the best for me.
   
   My dog is disobedient,
   he’s lazy and unfit.
   The only time he runs around
   is when he’s told to, ‘Sit!’
   
   Would I change some things about myself?
   Yes, I would – a lot.
   But my house, my friends, my family?
   Definitely not!
   
   When I take time to look around
   and familiar things I see,
   I’m like the little country mouse.
   I’m as grateful as can be.
   
   I sing a little thankful song,
   for wherever I might roam
   (usually back and forth from school)
   there’s no place quite like home!

Time for reflection

Think about all the good things in your life.

(Pause)

And now think about the things that you’d like to change . . . really?

(Pause)

Prayer
Father God,
thank you for the ones who care,
the ones I know are always there.
Thank you for my home, my bed.
Thank you for my daily bread.
Thank you for the birds that sing.
Thank you, God, for everything.
Amen.

Song/music

‘All things bright and beautiful’ (Come and Praise, 3)