Cheatsgiving: No One Cares About Your Yams

YamsYou have probably celebrated Thanksgiving as far back as you can remember.  And your family, to be sure, will be celebrating Thanksgiving for generations to come.

And just as certain, when your children are grown and celebrating Thanksgiving on their own, no matter where they are or who they are with: they will be thinking of you.

Because the holidays always have a way of taking us back.  It is a season of nostalgia.  Despite all the stress (or perhaps owed to it) the holidays carry us again and again to our past.  Triggered by familiar senses: the texture of rolled dough, an empty table waiting to be set crowded by too many chairs, the sound of football from another room, the smell of anise, holiday music, the crisp darkening days of almost winter, a cup of eggnog”¦and suddenly ”¦we are back there.

No, not all childhoods conjure such warm reflection.  But anyone reading this must hope that their own children will someday look back with such warmth.

And when your children do look back to Thanksgivings past, what will they think of?  What will they carry with them to their future family?  A recipe for bacon brussels sprouts?

Okay, that sounds pretty good.

But the truth is they don’t give a damn about your food.    It’s true.  No one cares about your yams.

If Thanksgiving had a bumper sticker, it would say: Make Memories, Not Meals.

So in that spirit, here’s Ten Thanksgiving Traditions that have nothing do to with turkey:

 DIY Ornaments/Keepsakes

Few things are more cherished than the aged, threadbare, homemade keepsakes of yore. Just ask any parent who has bubble-wrapped the same deformed salt-dough reindeer (platypus?) for the last thirty years.

So for the family that isn’t afraid of getting their hands a little dirty (in hot glue) on Thanksgiving, why not start an Annual Homemade Keepsake Tradition?

Simply setup a Craft Station each year for guests to make their own ornament or keepsake.   You can be their creative guide, with some specific tutorials (Pinterest: DIY ornaments).  OR you can just leave a mountain of craft stuff in a corner and let them go all MacGyver on that shit.

 Tree Trimming 

Similarly, for those who celebrate Christmas (and aren’t crippled with panic at the sight of Christmas decor in November) there is the Thanksgiving Tree Trimming Tradition.   All the natural tree enthusiasts have just stopped reading, but I know there’s some artificial tree lovers out there (ahem, Carinn Jade.)

Tip: Be nice and make sure that the lights have already been strung before guests arrive.

And if you have many children visiting your house, consider pre-sorting your ornaments in separate decorative boxes with each child’s name.  They will love the special attention, and it might prevent the dreaded ”Ornament Inequity Tantrum.”  Maybe.

Thanksgiving Album 

Everyone takes family pictures at Thanksgiving.  So why not make it an official tradition?

To Do: Grab yourself a chalkboard, or some wooden numbers, or a roll of that white banner-paper that football players run through, and write down the year before you snap the next photo.   Print photo.  Put in album.  Repeat.

With just that little extra effort, you could have a really cool Thanksgiving Album for generations to come.

And if you want to be really on trend, grab some props.  Nothing is more hip than funny hats and fake mustaches.  Except for real mustaches.

Talent Show

For the family that has a lot of young kids, or anyone else willing to potentially humiliate themselves for the sake of tradition, there’s the Annual Thanksgiving Talent Show.  Sort of like the Macy’s Parade, but in your living room!

Tip: Give ample notice to guests.

Variation: for a book-loving family, consider hosting a Holiday Reading.  Kids could read excerpts from a favorite book, or everyone could read from the same novel.

The Thankful Table

Literally.  It’s a table that gives thanks.

To Do:  Using paint stirrers, or something significantly classier, gather and distribute wooden strips to each guest.  Have them write down something they’re thankful for, including their name and year.

Assemble all wooden strips onto a scrap tabletop or piece of plywood.  Watch your ”Thankful Table” evolve from a trivet to a tray to a full tabletop over the years.

Variation:  Feeling impatient?  Have your guests write/paint directly onto an existing tabletop that you can store away until the next year.

The Thankful Documentary 

If you have at least one technophile among you, this should be easy.

A lot of families already have the tradition of going ”˜round the table and saying what they’re thankful for.    Blend that with the tradition of family videos, and you have yourself a Thankful Documentary that grows and changes each year.

To make it less on-the-spot: setup a little nook with a webcam or video camera and have each guest (especially kids) tell a little story about what they’re most thankful for that year.

Bonus:  encourage extended family, and long-distance relatives, to participate as well.

Donate/Volunteer

The holidays are always a great time to give back.  Start this tradition early with your kids.  Shelters and Soup Kitchens are a great place to volunteer, but often need more help during the rest of the year (everyone likes to volunteer at the holidays!)

So for Thanksgiving, encourage your children to go through their toys and clothes and pick out items that they wish to donate to children in need.  Encourage all of your guests to do the same.   Add donations of your own (blankets, food, etc.) and load them all together at Thanksgiving to donate to a local shelter the next day.  Let this act of group generosity kick off the Season of Giving for you and your family.

 Amuse-bouche 

(I lied when I said none of these traditions had to do with food.)

Top Chef fans and Foodies all over will rejoice at an Annual Thanksgiving Amuse-Bouche Competition.  For people who really love to cook, sometimes the idea of another round of candied yams is enough to send them into an early food coma.   Bring sexy back with an annual culinary challenge: each guest puts together an amuse-bouche of their choice a one bite appetizer challenge to be served as the first course.  Ballot box to determine winner.  Or if you’re one of *those* families, then everybody wins I guess. :eyeroll:

Bonus: less cooking for the host!

Thanksgiving Movie

Don’t have a lot of people?  Go to a movie!  Don’t feel pressured to force your family into some sentimental, Hallmark style activity, like hosting a reading or talent show, or playing a family game of touch football in the back yard with your matching cream knit cardigans.  The cinema on Thanksgiving is a surprisingly fun place to be.   Popcorn is cheap.   Good seats are plenty.  And the kids will love it.  I know I did growing up.

Touch Football in Cream Knit Cardigans 

But if do have a sizeable yard and happen to own matching cream colored knit cardigans”¦

Well, just make sure to have the camera ready.  I see a holiday card in your future.

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