Thanksgiving Traditions

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is steeped in tradition for many households, ours included. Traditions are something that keep us grounded and give us security…they also provide a benchmark as we go through the years keeping the same special traditions. Children, especially, seem to thrive on traditions. In our household, a new tradition can often be born from doing something ONCE that the children especially enjoyed. They have a way of doing this. Anybody else?

We have many traditions involved in our annual Thanksgiving observance. Many surround food, many surround family, many surround the preparations for this day. Here are some of the big ones:

  1. Two big turkeys. Instead of one HUGE one, we roast two big ones. One in the oven and one in the roaster. They each turn out a little different and various family members prefer one or the other. We couldn’t do without either, though.
  2. More food than we know what to do with. I bake and cook for days to make two kinds of stuffing, cranberries, four kinds of pie, appetizers, caramel corn, vegetables, cider…any traditional Thanksgiving dish you can imagine. There *must* be enough leftovers to repeat the Thanksgiving meal several times, also. That is a RULE.
  3. Thanksgiving decorations. We break these out in the beginning of November. Pilgrims, turkeys…the works.
  4. Thanksgiving crafts…lots of them! A new one each day…and these add to our Thanksgiving decor around the house.
  5. A new Thanksgiving movie that no one has seen yet. This year, I believe the kids have voted for “Ice Age 3.”
  6. A Thanksgiving performance. The kids all play instruments and we sit and listen to them play their best pieces after dinner.
  7. Thanksgiving parades in the morning while the turkey begins to fill the house with delicious aromas.
  8. A family parlor game around the table after the meal is over and while people are digesting.
  9. A “blessing tree” which is really just a stick inserted into a container full of sand. We make autumn-colored paper leaves for the tree and everyone writes what they are thankful for on the leaves. The leaves are then attached to the tree with twine for a “blessing tree.”
  10. Charlie Brown Thanksgiving – need I say more? Must watch this every year! We have raised our kids with the good sense to appreciate Charles Schultz (LOL).

Please share your traditions! We are always looking to add more to our collection!