Even though Christmas was truly the holiday every kid looked forward to, Thanksgiving had to be my favorite holiday growing up. My grandmother’s house was where we would all gather for dinner. She spent all week buying, making, baking, and preparing to fill the table with tons of deliciously seasoned foods. Your favorite football team was playing, of course, and catching the floats at the Macy’s Day Parade was always a thrill. And if your family lived in a close knit neighborhood like ours did, you were able to grab a plate of food from someone else’s house to have for later. Thanksgiving meant family, football and food and that’s the only thing it consisted of.
In those days it was a travesty to pick up your meal from the grocery store because you didn’t “feel like cooking”. Nowadays Thanksgiving is the lead-in for Christmas shopping. It’s rare that anyone actually takes time to cook a large meal because no one has “time for that”. Instead of spending the evening with your family digesting or grazing on your 2nd plate of food, it’s time to gather the sales papers and head to the stores to stand in line in the freezing weather to make sure we buy things for Christmas. [Click here for a perfect example].
We’ve turned into a culture of cutting family time and giving thanks to buying things. And I feel even worse for the salespeople who have to work on those evenings.
Call me sentimental, but with a little one on the way, I want my child to enjoy this time and have the chance to enjoy this holiday as much as I have. As much as I love shopping, I hate the crowds and pushing just to get a deal. Plus, I don’t want to sacrifice the joys of spending time with loved ones to buy stuff. In effort to bring back Thanksgiving, I’ve decided to bring back the tradition of Thanksgiving by establishing a few parameters.
· Spend the day with people I love and actually sharing thoughts of thankfulness.
· Eat my food without the thought of having to hurry & bundle up and stand in line to buy stuff for the next holiday. I’ll politely enjoy the current holiday we’re in.
· Skip the Gray Thursday & Black Friday shopping all together. These days require you to be in line at an ungodly time to actually get the deal.
· Leave the “must-have” shopping to Cyber Monday. If there is something that pressing I want, I’ll scope it out at the store to see if it’s something I truly want, and then purchase from the comfort of my own home.
· Remember that if it’s that serious to buy gifts for Christmas, then to start saving early and shop in the summertime. By Christmas time, it will all be done.
Kudos to the two dozen retailers for not opening on Thanksgiving Day.
