Every family has their own traditions, whether it is a yearly trip to Uncle Sam’s Fried Chicken Hut or a reunion up at the cabin, it is just a tradition but one holiday that seems to be filled with tradition is Thanksgiving.
Over the years, I have noticed a lot of traditions that my own family has, ones that I was never really aware of it. Thanksgiving always blooms early and bright. I can’t actually remember the last time I had a cloudy Thanksgiving and I am up getting the turkey read. My children will come and help with the stuffing and then they scamper off so I can handle the “gross” stuff of cleaning out the turkey.
As strange as it seems, this is a tradition I remember from childhood when I would do the exact same thing to my own mom. From there the day is spent playing games, smelling roasting chicken and just being a family. Sometimes in-laws come, sometimes they don’t but all the times we just have fun being together.
I know that it is not much when it comes to traditions, we don’t go out to a turkey farm and hunt our turkey and there is nothing that would scream tradition but it is often the simple acts, the things that you don’t notice that produces the strongest traditions that seem to last for generations.
Even with these unnoticed traditions, many families have traditions that are much more apparent and seem to occur in many different households. These are the conscious traditions that we do every year and we often look forward to them as the holiday approaches.
Making Way for Christmas:
It may seem strange to start thinking about another holiday while you are celebrating another but many families’ view Thanksgiving as the holiday before the “real” holidays begin. Preparations are made for Christmas and this can be as simple as gathering up everyone’s Christmas list for the following season.
Of course, other families will go a few steps further and start drawing names for their secret Santa. In my family, since we celebrate Thanksgiving in October, we generally leave the name drawing until my son’s birthday, which falls in November. However, if you don’t have a November birthday or Thanksgiving is in November with black Friday only a day away, drawing those names becomes an almost necessary tradition.
The Game:
We have all heard that football goes with Thanksgiving like ice goes with ice Hockey. You can’t have one without the other, okay you can but it just becomes something a little different. Not every family makes football a Thanksgiving tradition but many do. This can be anything from watching the game to playing a great game of football outside before dinner.
Being Thankful:
Being thankful is probably what Thanksgiving is all about now and many families make a tradition of it. This can be anything from sitting around the table and taking turns saying one thing that they are thankful for to saying a prayer of thanks. There is no right or wrong way to be thankful and every family will have a different way of showing it.
The Food:
Good food, family, friends; ah, it must be Thanksgiving. Yes, food can be a tradition and many people have a hard time eating anything but turkey on Thanksgiving Day. I remember one year when I suggested a spiralled ham, the looks I received, the gasps of surprise, the mutterings of outrage sent me rushing to the store to purchase that turkey. My husband and son both insisted that it was just because my turkey is so good but I think it just doesn’t feel like Thanksgiving without the traditional food that your family prepares. For my family it is the turkey and although they will allow some creativity with the other dishes, the turkey is a tradition that is here to stay.
So, now that we have looked at some of the Thanksgiving Day traditions, what are some of the traditions that your family celebrates?
