I’m participating in the Twittermoms “Target Thanksgiving Traditions Sweepstakes” and in order to enter you have to write a post answering the question “What three favorite family Thanksgiving traditions have you passed or will pass on to your children?”
I never really thought about our Thanksgiving Day routine as being tradition but I guess it is! My husband and I have been married for almost 18 years and our Thanksgiving Day events have not changed much over time. The only difference is we have included the children into our holiday rituals, so I guess in a sense we are passing them on to our kiddos.
Here are my three favorite traditions.
- We have always had Turkey for Thanksgiving. I can’t remember one time in all those years a Turkey wasn’t cooked for the main coarse. The Turkey doesn’t always come out as planned, but it always makes it into the feast. The first year I cooked the turkey I forgot to take out the bag of giblets and neck. For hours we were smelling burnt plastic. We couldn’t figure out were the horrific odor was coming from until we took the turkey out of the oven and noticed the inside cavity was glazed with a shiny coating. We still managed to salvage parts of the turkey for dinner. Knowing now about the dangers of plastics I would never dream of eating it! We were young, stupid, and just starting out.
- The television is turned on at 9 am eastern to watch the annual Macy’s Day Thanksgiving Parade. The parade has been around since 1924 and was first conducted by the Macy’s employees which featured animals from the Central Park Zoo. This year will mark the parades 83 year and its a way for our family to kick of the official holiday season! I live in NY but not close enough to New York City where the parade takes place. I would LOVE to attend the parade in person and see the beautiful balloons and floats first hand. Watch the video below with head designer John Piper as he shows how the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade Day floats are made.
- Before we dig into the turkey and all the other delicious goodies we go around the table and each one of us gives thanks to what we are especially grateful for this year. No generic responses are excepted and we additionally have to explain what we would like to see change within the upcoming year. Its a fun way to express are gratitude and hopes for the following year.
Those are my three favorite traditions. They might not be exciting but they are comforting to me!
I’m sure you must have some special traditions? I would love to read them on your blog! Leave me a link where I can find you and I will be heading on over to read your wonderful post.
Don’t forget to enter at Twittermoms for your chance to win a $50 Target Gift Card. There is going to be 15 winners randomly chosen from all the qualified entries so your chances are excellent to score yourself some extra loot for the holidays!
We actually don’t have too many Thanksgiving traditions, although when we spend it with my in-laws, we also go around the table and give thanks for something specific. I do make the cranberry sauce every year – I guess maybe that’s a tradition?
We don’t have any traditions for THanksgiving, we do more for Christmas.
We always each say at least one thing we are thankful for.
We always pray before the meal.
We always all help make something that is a part of the meal or dessert.
Every year we make EVERYTHING even though we have no company then we eat leftovers at lunch and dinner for about 6 days after. We always say we won’t make as much, e.g. rice OR potatoes yet we always make both anyway!