I am so thankful! Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holidays. So many fun traditions from growing up, until now. Here are some ideas to start with your family (if you haven’t already)—
- YMCA Turkey Trot
I started this tradition with my dad and my sister as she got older. How amazing is it to celebrate with thousands of people just for being thankful. Thankful for our family, our friends and so much more. Luckily, my husband and his parents had the same tradition, and now we carry it on with our family—where my husband runs in the 8 miles and my kids, my sister and in-laws walk the 5 mile. When we are finished we meet up, take our obligatory Thanksgiving picture, and then make our way to Starbucks to warm up. Just don’t forget to set your DVR to watch the Thanksgiving parade.
- Stuffing
This tradition is a BIG one. I can’t even count how many years I have been making stuffing with my mom and sister. Not to mention a few of my friends have joined in along the way. We use the most amazing stuffing recipe that my Grandma Sally found in a newspaper. My mom still has the copy. I don’t know what is it about making the stuffing, but we laugh so much when we make it. And just like the trot, the kids have started making it with us—don’t worry they wash their hands.
3. Matching cousin shirts
We started this tradition when Miles was about 6 months old. There are 9 cousins together ranging from now 2- 23 years old. The last 5 years we have had shirts made for them and it is so cute! Definitely a fun photo opportunity. This year for the 5th year we got shirts that say Thankful for my Cousins. Duh!
- Thankful
At my in-laws, they have a tradition of going around saying what you are thankful for. I think this one is such an important tradition. Why? Because we don’t say it enough to the ones we love and care about. It’s so nice to go around the room of about 20 people (We go from oldest to youngest) and hear what everyone is thankful for—especially hearing from the little ones. Also a great lesson to teach our young.
- Rock-N-Roll Thanksgiving
Those were the days!! Now that we have kids it has become more difficult for Rock-N-Roll Thanksgiving. But as a child it was THE BEST! After the “last” serving of the night, aka “dinner”, we would move the couches out of the way and put my parents would put on records—Rock-N-Roll music! Everyone would dance and sing, there wasn’t anything like it! We still call my mom’s Thanksgiving, “The Rock-N-Roll Thanksgiving. When the kids were all done and tired we would make our way to Blockbuster, pick out a movie (usually scary) and our parents would make a nice big pallete for us to lay on. Talk about food and dance coma! These days, play some Rock-N-Roll music from Alexa, then watch something on Netflix! Same thing, just more modern!
*As we got older, more and more friends would join this wonderful traditions!
Moms, Dads, whomever is reading this—with everything going on with our world today, remember to take some time and cherish it with your family and friends. It’s a time to give thanks and be grateful for what you have and for the people in your life. Let’s not forget about the people whom we miss every year, including this year. Hope my traditions carry on generation to generation—and even possibly to new families! Happy Thanksgiving!
