Regardless of what your parents/family did, there is some merit to considering the STARTING of something new!
I LOVE Thanksgiving. I remember fondly the one single day each year that I could guarantee getting to watch my favorite sports team on television. THANKSGIVING DAY! Growing up on the last house on a gravel, dead-end road in rural Tennessee, you were completely dependent on the local TV stations to show whatever game of whatever team they chose. Rarely was it the Dallas Cowboys.
But on Thanksgiving, they were the ONLY team that played every year and I was guaranteed a front row seat. (In all honestly, the Detroit Lions have always played on Thanksgiving Day also, but nobody cares)
The shuffling around of people and plates and platters never seems to interfer with game-time. For me, this was the greatest of all holidays. No pressure in gift-giving. Always, with family. Always good food. Always football.
It would have been an easy thing to convince my wife that Thanksgiving is so full of traditions that it would be fool-hardy to try anything new. After all, if its not broken….
We decided to try something new
At some point, about 15 years into marriage and with our kids at the age of 9, 7, 5 and 3 we decided to change things up.
Charlie Brown Thanksgiving!
In the short, 30-minute television special from the 70’s, Charlie Brown is “forced” to make Thanksgiving dinner for his friends. With apparently no parents or grown-ups anywhere in the zip code, he and his dog Snoopy prepare for his friends the following menu:
Buttered toast
Pretzels
Jelly Beans
Popcorn
Strawberry Sundae
So, on this year AND EVERY YEAR AFTERWARDS…..
Then, we added pajamas
Yes, we decided that each year, we would give out new pajamas to the family after we watch the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Special.
Audrey tells us that this is her favorite tradition of the whole year!
What about you?
What traditions can you create to give your family a sense of unique identity?
