This post is brought to you by Target, but all thoughts, opinions and family stories are my own.
When I was growing up in Northern California, Thanksgiving meant cousins and aunts and uncles and Grandma and Grandpa (but mostly cousins) and lots and lots of food.
Thanksgiving meant that we could finally start playing Christmas music. It meant that we’d be getting our Christmas tree soon…which meant that I’d better get my Christmas list written quickly and mailed off to the Big Guy soon if I wanted to have the perfect Christmas morning.
Content and/or other value provided by our partner, Target.
Now I’m the one fulfilling Christmas wish lists instead of writing them, but Thanksgiving is still about the same kinds of things for me. I may not have all of MY cousins or aunts and uncles or grandparents filling my house, but sometimes we’re lucky enough to have my sister and her family over for a shared feast.
Thanksgiving is still about the music. Oh, I love Christmas music and Thanksgiving is the first day I allow myself to turn it on. It’s tradition.
But mostly, above all, My Kind of Thanksgiving is all about the food. And the food goes on all month long. I’ve already gotten started with my pre-holiday baking and cooking. From pumpkin desserts to appetizers to breads to the traditional dishes that my aunts and grandma and mom used to bring to our Thanksgiving get togethers to the new dishes I’ve been making all month long.
Yes, the holidays are about food.
As much as I love our current traditions – from the foods we eat to the music we listen to or the friends we invite over on Thanksgiving – I also love adding something new every year. One year, we added a Thanksgiving tree, where everybody had the chance to add Fall-colored leaves on a Thankfulness Tree throughout the month. Many years ago, CandyMan added a Thanksgiving tradition of playing football with friends on Thanksgiving morning.
One new tradition I would love to add is to create a Thanksgiving-festive atmosphere, with decorations, tablecloths, and serving platters. Wouldn’t these platters make all the food I bake and prepare even more beautiful? I might just have to pick up a festive tablecloth and a centerpiece for this coming holiday!
What old holiday traditions do you love to observe every year…and what would make THIS Thanksgiving even more special?
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Every Thanksgiving My grandma would give us a new Christmas tree ornament. I still have all those ornaments. I now do that for my grandkids. Having my Mom here for the Holidays would sure make it more special.
I’d love to start a new tradition this year of doing a craft with all the kids.
I like your idea about a “thankful tree” to remind everyone, and especially kids, all the things we have and don’t appreciate enough. At the same time, I believe the holidays are spending time with special people and creating memories to last a lifetime … and just wrote about this, https://www.hometips4women.com/home-for-the-holidays
One of our traditions is to have chocolate eclairs for dessert at Thanksgiving!