Thanksgiving Traditions
What Thanksgiving traditions are important to you and your family? This past week we discussed some of the Thanksgiving traditions of members of our Lewis & Daggett team and their families, and thought we would share some of them with you.
First, let’s remember to have a safe Thanksgiving. We previously discussed some tips at Giving Thanks Safely. Of course, we also need to remember to be thankful, which we previously reviewed in Are We Thankful?
In discussing Thanksgiving traditions with members of our Lewis & Daggett team we found that the traditions generally fell in the categories of family, food, games, and of course watching the Thanksgiving Day parades.
Family was the most common theme when discussing Thanksgiving traditions. Families included immediate families, grandparents and grandchildren, as well as aunts, uncles, and the extended family. Celebrating with family can also include travel. We have members of our team traveling to and from Florida, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut as well as the surrounding states. While we are all getting together, let us also be thankful for friends and co-workers.
We also have visitors coming from Texas, New York, Tennessee, Virginia, Pennsylvania as well as right here in North Carolina. Family and family traditions is the most repeated theme for Thanksgiving. One of our colleagues also reminded us that when you are spending time with your families, don’t forget to take a deep breath. A calming effect is often needed when extended families get together.
Food is another common theme for Thanksgiving traditions, and the most often mentioned is "Mom’s cooking!" One interesting tradition with a large family gathering is to have each person make one of their grandmother’s recipes to share. That way, the traditions are passed from family to family and generation to generation, as well as not burdening one person with all the work.
In other families part of the tradition is having a different person or family be responsible for the menu over the extended Thanksgiving weekend. Apparently the food is as varied as the attendees and usually ends on Saturday evening with shrimp enchiladas.
The next family tradition was Thanksgiving games. The games included Trivial Pursuit, Mexican Train Dominoes, Monopoly, and Pictionary. One twist on the Pictionary game is to always save the one most memorable drawing from each year and put it away to review in future years. One family has pictures from the "vault" dating back to 1993 which provides a walk down the memory lane of family traditions for many years.
Many families enjoy the traditions of going to or watching Thanksgiving Day parades. Parades are great family fun and can pass traditions on from generation to generation. Everyone likes a parade!
Of course, there are always some funny stories that get passed along from generation to generation. For example one now adult when he was 5 years old was always excited to get to pull on the wishbone of the turkey to see if he could get the longest end and make his wish come true. He was so excited to pull and get the longest end. When asked what he wished for, he became silent and with a blank stare said I wished for "the longest end." Of course the laughter and excitement of that memory is a tradition that has been passed along.
All these Thanksgiving traditions are great for family fun. From our Lewis & Daggett family to yours, have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!