Watching the parade. For most of us who celebrate Thanksgiving, it's just around the corner. For others, it's already past. As an American Canadian, I get to celebrate twice, which is cool because I'm thankful for so much. This post is more about traditions, though, so I won't go into that list other than to say it's long, and family is right at the top.
In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on a Monday in October, giving us a long weekend to enjoy a traditional meal with my husband's family. And I have lots of time to catch up on reading.
For our second Thanksgiving in November, we've developed different traditions. No more elaborate turkey dinners, since my husband has to work late every year on that day. Instead, my boys and I step away from homeschooling for a couple of days to enjoy some down time. Here are some of our favorite things to do.
What about you? Do you have a favorite tradition this time of year?
In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on a Monday in October, giving us a long weekend to enjoy a traditional meal with my husband's family. And I have lots of time to catch up on reading.
For our second Thanksgiving in November, we've developed different traditions. No more elaborate turkey dinners, since my husband has to work late every year on that day. Instead, my boys and I step away from homeschooling for a couple of days to enjoy some down time. Here are some of our favorite things to do.
- Eat cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Yum.
- Put up the Christmas tree. Colored lights and lots of homemade ornaments, including some I made with my Mema and a couple made by my mother-in-law. We can't hang candy canes, gingerbread men, or popcorn strings on our tree because the greyhound would eat them. After the tree is decorated, the boys each get a new ornament to put on. We try to wait for their Daddy to get home before putting the star on top (and not just because he's the tallest!).
- Watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. And the dog show afterwards, where we root for the greyhound to win, of course. So far, no luck—but maybe this year.
- Watch Christmas movies in the afternoon. Some of our favorites are The Muppet Christmas Carol, Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas, and Elf.
- Make sweet potato pie and cornbread dressing. We don't have a big turkey dinner, but I still crave those particular foods this time of year. And when they're cooking, it just smells like Thanksgiving. I can't make the dressing quite like Mema did, but it's close. The boys don't eat it, but they'll have pie with lots of whipped cream. And bacon sandwiches or something else quick and easy.
- Read books and play board games, especially Candyland and Operation. The “buzz” on the Operation game isn't as nerve-wracking as I remember, but it's still enough to make us all jump.
What about you? Do you have a favorite tradition this time of year?
Gobi's favorite tradition is eating.
RSS Feed