Thanksgiving Family Traditions

Two years ago I wrote a blog post titled TicTac, Turkeys and Traditions. I wrote about how the best family traditions are made by chance and not on purpose. Yes, even Thanksgiving family traditions.

We were about to spend out second holiday season away from family and I had been thinking a lot about traditions. Quite frankly, I was putting a lot of pressure on myself to make some. I was feeling inadequate as I scrolled Facebook seeing what all these other families were doing.

I felt this pressure to make memories. I finally realized that memories are not something that you set out to do. They just happen.

I smile now because I’m reading a book called Memory Making Mom by Jessica Smartt. She has a lot more to say on the subject than my one little blog post and I can not recommend this book highly enough.

Don’t Get Overwhelmed

Scouring Pinterest is truthfully a terrible idea for anything.

A simple Pinterest search turns into hours of overthinking and rethinking and self doubt and more overthinking.

Pinterest these days almost seems necessary, though. It’s a one-stop shop of endless ideas.

But I’m here today to help you effortlessly begin making memories with your family…but not ON PURPOSE of course!

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Make Special Treats

I mean, come on, Thanksgiving is all about the food right? OK, maybe not. But most people don’t think about Thanksgiving without at least THINKING about some food.

Yes, there will probably be turkey (or ham…or steak), a potato of some form (but most likely mashed), some extremely unhealthy vegetable (green bean or sweet potato casserole is my bet) and some type of food that ONLY comes out on this day of the year (can we all say cranberry sauce?).

So, while we’re all being unhealthy let’s just add in some extremely cute dessert treats!

Oreo Turkey

We made these adorable Oreo Turkey’s the other day. It is such an easy “recipe” for children to do. I encouraged my son to follow these step-by-step instructions all by himself and I’d say he did a great job!

Turkey Breakfast

My husband is usually in charge of fancy holiday-themed pancakes. But four years ago, he had already moved to Montana and Liam and I were still in North Carolina. I had spent the night with my grandparents and made this Cinnamon Roll Turkey for him.

And, as all good traditions go, it’s happened ever since.

Or maybe you want to try the Chocolate Covered Turkey Pretzel or the Peanut Butter Cookie Turkey?

Want more ideas? Here’s 10 more turkey treats for you!

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Watch a Parade

This might not be for everyone. I love a good parade and you just can not top Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. One day I WILL GO. I have no desire to be in the crowd but I reeeeeeallly want to see the bands and gigantic balloons.

Or maybe your town has a Thanksgiving parade. Lucky you!

Either way, bundle up or sit around in your pajamas and ooooh and ahhhhh over the bands and singers and balloons and theatrics.

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Watch Thanksgiving Movies

I don’t know why I always feel that I need to watch holiday-inspired movies. I think it’s the teacher in me that always made sure that any video that was watched in my classroom had an educational purpose.

No matter the reason, a good Thanksgiving movie just makes it more special because it’s the only time of year that you watch them (probably).

So grab some popcorn and a blanket and snuggle your kiddo(s). Grab the controller and try one of these movies that is sure to please them:

• A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
• Garfield’s Thanksgiving
• Free Birds
• Miracle on 34th street
• Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving
• Alvin and the Chipmunks – Alvin’s Thanksgiving Celebration

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Celebrate Thankfulness

While I believe in giving thanks all year long, there’s just something about the month of November that screams GIVE THANKS!

There are so many ways to acknowledge what you are thankful for throughout the month in creative ways like a thankful turkey or a thankful tree. Here are some ideas for you and your family:

Thankful Pinecone

If you live somewhere with pine trees this Thankful Pinecone is a cute one to try. And it is super easy to make so it will be perfect for the Littles in your life.

Thankful Tree

This is always a popular idea with quite a few ways to do it. The Joanna Gaines way of doing it is to collect some twigs and place them in a vase to make your own “tree”.

I actually went on a hike earlier this month with a friend who is doing this. Liam collected twigs as well but just yesterday I got them out of the trunk. Craftiness has never been my forte. Especially the HGTV kind.

And check out this Christmas Tree that is disguised as a Thankful Tree!

Will you choose the Stick Thankful Tree or the Paper Thankful Tree or maybe be like me and just do a simple construction paper turkey?

Gratitude Wall

You really can’t get much simpler than this! All you need is some paper, markers and a wall and you have yourself a Gratitude Wall!

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Invite Someone Over

While this may not be the best idea in our current pandemic, it is just about the easiest gift you could give someone over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Growing up, I think I was very much in a bubble. We always had Thanksgiving at my grandparents with the same extended family. Even when I was a single adult I traveled home for this same tradition. And as a married adult we were always there as well.

It wasn’t until we moved to Montana that I really thought about it. Matt moved to Montana a few days before Thanksgiving. If it hadn’t been for a nice co-worker (who he barely knew) invite him over for dinner, he would have spent the entire day along in a brand new city.

A few years later, we invited a single guy Matt worked with over for dinner. His whole family lives in California. He is now a very good family friend and I have no doubt he was happy to have people to spend the day with…even if it wasn’t his family.

I have no doubt that if we look hard enough, there is always someone who would simply love the gift of company over Thanksgiving.

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Giving to Others

I hesitate to put this here because I think this is something that should be done all year long.

But, at the same time, holidays are a special time. And special times call for special help.

And I think that there is no better way to teach my children that Thanksgiving is not just about food and turkey crafts and Pilgrims than showing them how to give to others.

Here are some simple ways to give back (when you have young children!):

• Make cards or write letters. This is something that is almost lost but the older generation longs for! You could do handprint cards or cool pop-up cards or simply write a letter.

• Visit a retirement facility. Bring homemade cards with you and allow your children to pass them out to the residents. Bring coloring pages or toys for the children in case you get in an engaging conversation.

• Collect and donate food. They already probably think of Thanksgiving and food so collecting food and donating is it an easy connection. For a while, every time we went to the grocery store I would have Liam pick out two extra cans of food. We would stash them away and then take them do the Food Bank.

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Decorate for Christmas

OK, this can get a little controversial…in a funny way.

Every year there are two groups of people.

1. There are those that decorate BEFORE Thanksgiving. These are the ones that say good bye to Halloween and before you know it their Christmas lights are up and garland is hanging on their porch.
2. Then there are those that decorate AFTER Christmas. These are the rule followers. They believe each holiday has it’s own time and you must respect the time each one has. (This is me!) They must say goodbye to Thanksgiving before they can say hello to the Christmas season.
3. Let me just add a bonus group here. Those that leave their Christmas decorations up after Christmas and those that take them down. This is about as controversial as the former but that’s a whole other blog post!

Like I said, I fall into the second camp. I believe each holiday should be celebrated. And there is just something special about enjoying November celebrating Thanksgiving. And then when Friday morning comes, I grab those Christmas boxes and thus begins the Christmas season!

But no matter your decorating timeline, tell Alexa to play a Christmas Playlist on volume 10, open those Christmas decorations and begin to celebrate the next holiday season!

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So, I wish you and your family the best Thanksgiving. It may not look like previous years but you never know what new tradition may start because of this unique time!

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