Thanksgiving as a young child can seem like any other day, except with more delicious meals and desserts (cue the yummm! sound).
That is what I usually thought to myself as I carefully picked out a nice outfit to parade around my family’s home awaiting the arrival of our tio’s and tia’s and cousins. I admit it, growing up I was more focused on who is going to wear what, how I looked in pictures, and mostly what was I going to eat. It wasn’t that I was an ungrateful child, but we really didn’t talk much about what Thanksgiving meant or what it was suppose to mean in the grander scheme of things. Sure we bowed our heads for a family toast to start out the feasting, but other than that it seemed to me like any other day, except for the fact that “carbs didn’t count.” As an adult and now as a mother, I have found myself concentrating on what I want my son to believe the holiday means and what I want him to get out of the celebration. I want him to remember what the true meaning of Thanksgiving really is— or what we think it should symbolize in our own tradition.
Making Friends Feel like Family
Thanksgiving to us (my husband and myself), now as adults reflecting, means that every relationship we have in life is important. Whether it be your parents, your brothers and sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, friends, etc.— building on that relationship every year has become important to us, and simply saying “thanks for being there” seems to mean so much. Going beyond expression has also made the Thanksgiving holiday a bit more fun with “friends thanksgiving.” Friends Thanksgiving, in an essence, can come before or in conjunction with your main holiday event. Really, it’s up to you, but no matter what you are showing that each individual relationship you have with others can be made even stronger. You never know who is eating alone and may want to be asked to simply attend a Thanksgiving. Because lets face it, unfortunately enough, there are no Thanksgiving jingles, and supermarkets and drug stores seem to gloss over the holiday altogether and jump straight into Christmas, but that doesn’t mean it has to be looked at as the ugly stepsister of holidays— Thanksgiving is important too!
Beyond the great events of eating and eating some more, Thanksgiving also serves as a giant reminder to be grateful.
We always try out hardest to remember this all year long, but sometimes we fail. As people, I personally think we could all do a lot better, so that is what we strive for in our family, especially around this time of year. Sometimes it takes something as little as reflection and saying thank you that can help you realize how much you really have compared to someone else.
Gratitude can also remind us to encourage acts of kindness, and not just doing it one time during the year.
Yes, we all have busy lives, and we all have a million different things that pull us every which way, everyday, but trying to do little acts of kindness can go along way. That is why in addition to being grateful this year, my family and I made it a new step towards growing our tradition promises and bought a joyful little table turkey from Turkey on the Table (we named ours Grazî!) . Turkey on the Table is a book and activity set that aims to encourage families to express and display their gratitude, which serves as a great reminder to reflect. In addition to the activity, we also loved the fact that it donates ten meals to Feeding America, making it even easier to not only focus on being grateful but also passing along an act of kindness.
Lastly, Thanksgiving can bring great meaning to planning goals for the next year.
Reflection and kind displays are great, but for us, Thanksgiving has also been a reminder to slow down and think about what we want to accomplish in the next year. Goal setting is so hard, but I am here to tell you that doing so with a cup of coffee and a nice slice of pumpkin pie can help!
These are just some of the ways we think about Thankgiving and try to stay true to the meaning behind the holiday before, during, and after. Not everything we do may be the best or maybe to others it doesn’t seem like enough, but it is something we will continue to do and try to do even outside of the holiday to truly celebrate the meaning of Thanksgiving. What are some ways your family gives thanks?
