November 26, 2018
Holiday’s for some families are marked by age-old traditions. For others, each year is a new plan. Growing up, I had a bit of both. For the years that I lived in North Carolina, Thanksgiving and Christmas were always spent at my grandparents for lunch. Yet, when we lived out of state each year was different.
Then there were the small things that never really changed. I can remember that the Thomas elf always visited us one week before Christmas. Now, this was waaaaaay before the Elf on the Shelf craze. We simply hung a very small stocking on our bedroom door and the Thomas elf would leave us something small: a Hershey kiss (ONE kiss…not an entire bag!), a piece of gum, TicTacs… And every morning, we were thrilled! While I will not be embarking on the Elf on the Shelf craze (I am simply not creative enough and quite frankly do not have the patience or determination to do such extravagant things), I do feel that a Dietrich elf just may make his appearance this year to one special little boy.
Starting your own family means starting your own traditions. Some are carried on from our childhoods while others are created as our very own. I remember when Matt and I first got married. I actually stressed over what traditions we would make for ourselves. And then when Liam was born this stress was amplified. Seriously. I stressed about making traditions.
It seems so silly to me now. For now, I feel that traditions are simply made not out of purpose but by chance. You try something new one year. If you like it, you do it again the next year. You don’t start by saying “We will do it this year and for the next thirty years!”
All of this to say, that as we spend our second holiday season without family, I’ve come to enjoy the time with just us.
We did something over Thanksgiving that was very special. It was similar to what so many other families do throughout November. The two weeks leading up to Thanksgiving we were in South Carolina so I had not given any thought to doing any kind of Thankful Turkey knowing we’d be gone half of November. But, while at home with Liam on Tuesday and Matt back at work, I pulled out some construction paper and we made a turkey. On a whim, we had a Thankful Turkey. I didn’t go out and buy an aesthetically pleasing turkey. It didn’t match my home decor and some would call it tacky just hanging on my kitchen wall but it served the same purpose…and we made it together. Through each of us only has two feathers for each day we talked about what we were thankful for, just listening to Liam spout out everything imaginable was precious. And almost a week later, he is still walking up to Matt and asking “Dad, what are you thankful for?”
And just like that, I can see a tradition in the making. Not because I set out to make one but because it happened by chance…and it was fun and memorable.
What are some Thanksgiving traditions you have?
Side note: Thanksgiving marked two years of Matt living out here…and almost a year and a half for Liam and me! HOW?!?!