Thanksgiving Thoughts

I know I just posted about Christmas and stockings, but I skipped Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is weird here in CA because you want the feeling of fall, but the CA weather doesn’t always cooperate. Halloween is generally warm, and between the end of October and the end of November, there can be some cold weather, but…

I know I just posted about Christmas and stockings, but I skipped Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is weird here in CA because you want the feeling of fall, but the CA weather doesn’t always cooperate. Halloween is generally warm, and between the end of October and the end of November, there can be some cold weather, but we always seem to have a warming trend the week of Thanksgiving and that usually bums me out. I like cold weather, and while I’m in a house full of people, family and friends, I’d like it to be cold outside and warm inside. But that’s just me…

We usually head two hours north for a main meal with my husband’s family, though we won’t this year, and then drop in on some other family while we’re in town. With all the step families and in-laws, my mom has claimed the Friday after Thanksgiving for just “us”. One of the things mom does is, after the prayer and while we begin to eat, we must go around the table and name one thing we’re thankful for. Mom, sissy and I always cry. hahaha!

We’re kind of sad this year because our family dynamics have changed – divorces and weddings and new babies have moved some people out of town, added new family obligations, make it hard to travel, etc. So now that I have a new family, I’m feeling some sense of new found responsibility (not in the negative sense) to make new traditions for the three of us.

One idea I heard (I forget where) was to write thank you notes to everyone who attends the meal, thanking them for who they are and how they’ve impacted your life in the past year. When I think of traditions, I sometimes think it must be burdensome, or grandiose, but this is one tradition I think I could handle! As the years go on, I hope to add other traditions that help to make the holidays more meaningful, that teach my son to be truly thankful and that foster fond memories of the holidays throughout the years.

What about you? What are some of your favorite Thanksgiving traditions?

(Card Pictured is from fellow Etsyblogger, macaroniandglue)

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5 Comments

  1. We always go around the table and one by one say what we are thankful for. Many years ago, my husband had someone video tape us doing our “thank yous” and then proposed 🙂 My mother in-law just started crying (hopefully *happy* tears) and no on heard me say yes, hehe. I love your idea of thank you notes..especially since I make then, hehe.

  2. What a lovely touch.I just love getting together; the preparation, the aroma of the food, the football…

  3. We also would do the ’round the table’ saying thanks. I like your idea better because 1. it doesn’t put people on the spot if they are uncomfortable about speaking in front of others and you don’t get ‘cop out’ copycat responses and 2. you are saying what some other person has meant to you and THAT is truly a special gift for the recipient I would think. Thank YOU for sharing that!

  4. I think your mom has a good idea – it doesn’t have to be Thanksgiving DAY to get together. Just hope you still have an appetite! And I love the look of your new blogpage!

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