Today, in honor of Thanksgiving, I will be serving up a mildly-seasoned rant, with just a dollop of old-fashioned snark, accompanied by a heaping side of nostalgia.
Let me begin by affirming how much I adore Thanksgiving. It has always represented many special things to me: delicious food (and so much of it!), family togetherness (and...sooo much of it...), and the sentimental start to the entire Holiday Season Extravaganza. When I was growing up, my family always anticipated Thanksgiving as a worthy event in-and-of itself, not just something to get through, in order to reach Christmas faster (although I must admit that my siblings and I did not deny ourselves the Santa-stic ritual of "Perusing the Toy Catalogs" when they plopped into the mailbox right after Halloween). So, we'd feast and frolic, and then, after Thanksgiving Day had been given its full measure of attention and appreciation, my mom would suddenly morph into a whirlwind Christmas Elf. I remember vividly: each November she'd always deck the halls--in full twinkly, glittery, piney grandeur--the weekend immediately following Thanksgiving. And we were allowed to turn on Christmas music for the first time when the decorations came out as well--not one minute before!
Not surprisingly, I adopted my mother's holiday practices without even thinking about it. My sons know that tomorrow or Saturday, the enormous Rubbermaid boxes will be hauled up from the storage room, the Yule Bling will get unpacked, and their Mom will start belting out the Johnny Mathis Christmas Album (yeah, an oldie-but-goodie also inherited from the 'Rents) while transforming the house into Noel Central. We'll watch The Grinch (classic--I know each and every word, don't test me!) and The Year Without a Santa Claus (new classic--how could you not love Heat Miser and Snow Miser?), and hang our treasured ornaments on the (allergy-friendly artificial) tree, and plan what yummy snacks to concoct for our upcoming Holiday Open House.
And (here comes the "rant" I promised...or threatened...whatever) what will we NOT be doing? Shopping...on Thanksgiving...when the stores are now starting their "Black Friday Sales". (Really? What mega-genius came up with that idea..."hmm, let me cram in the last bite of pumpkin pie, leap up from the dinner table and go...buy stuff"?) A few years ago, I took it as a definite Sign of the Apocalypse that one local radio station, which used to start playing Christmas music the day after Thanksgiving--just exactly when we were ready for it--started the 24/7 Holiday Songs the week before Turkey Day. This year, they've moved it back another week. Is it just me, or is the message: "skip the gratitude, get right to the consumerism"? (Not to mention, there is an absolute limit to how many times one can hear "Feliz Navidad" in a month, without wanting to toss your sugar cookies, am I right?) Christmas lights and stockings and wrapping paper now appear on shelves as Halloween costumes are being cleared away (I blame Bad Elves!) Shopping Centers these days put up their lights and banners in early November; frankly, to me it feels like they're trying to force the Holiday Spirit (get in a celebratory mood RIGHT NOW, darn it...or else!)
But in this house, we are busy making cheesy potatoes to take to dinner at Mom's. While lounging in our pajamas, we might watch a Thanksgiving Parade. The boys certainly will find a football game on TV that requires their undivided concentration. Later, there will be lots of munching and cousin-wrestling and conversation and laughter. (Yes, a toy catalog might get passed around.) And then, over the river and through the woods on the way home from Grammy's (my Mom's) house, we just may put in a Christmas CD, and chat about the decorating and party-planning that awaits us...tomorrow (after we sleep off the Food Coma)! So here's wishing everyone a warm and wonderful Thanksgiving Day; may you enjoy it to the fullest, and chillax to the max! (For tomorrow...we break out the tinsel!)
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