The endless planning, the travel accommodations, and the incredible ability to sometimes eat more food than you could ever imagine. Holidays are tough. That is no secret.
And the thing about Holidays is that they are all different, but each has their own “thing." Halloween has the costumes and trick-or-treating. On Christmas, Santa pays a visit. Valentine’s Day makes you really happy or sad. On St. Patrick’s Day you wear green or get pinched. The list is endless.
But there is one trend in Holidays that I have noticed recently.
Christmas seems to come earlier and earlier every year.
It never fails that before Halloween is even over a Mariah Carey Christmas song is playing on the radio, and people are putting out their trees.
DISCLAIMER: I have nothing against Mariah Carey or Christmas. You can bet that when it hits December 1st, that I will be listening to "All I Want For Christmas" on repeat.
However, I do have one problem.
The problem is that we seem to be leaving out a very important holiday: Thanksgiving.
The wonderful food, the obligatory family disputes at the table and having at least five different TV’s on to watch football, makes for a great day. And let us not forget the 4:00 p.m. or 10:00 p.m. nap or food coma that follows lunch or dinner. It just makes me sad that some people overlook this day.
(I might be just a little bit partial because it just so happens that the greatest college football rivalry, Auburn v. Alabama, is the weekend after.)
It is easy to understand why Christmas is so exciting. Decorating the tree, the celebration of Jesus’s birth, the visions of sugarplums dancing in our heads…I mean trust me I love Christmas too, I get it.
It is as if Thanksgiving has become the “Ugly Stepbrother” of Christmas. But why does it have to be this way? Because the truth is, it doesn’t.
Thanksgiving is a time to celebrate close relationships with friends and family. At the end of the day, every family has their quirks and that is something we get over because we love them anyway.
It is a time to gather around the table and laugh with the ones we love most. My favorite part of Thanksgiving is to look around the table and see a smile on everyone’s face as we tell our favorite memories of each other.
Life gets tough sometimes and there is no secret that one particular year could be better than others. And most importantly, Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on the hardships we have overcome.
So, Thanksgiving we apologize for putting you second sometimes. You're an obvious crowd favorite when the time rolls around, and the only seconds we will be getting are food.
