Thanksgiving Weekend Traditions...What are Yours?

cwolfman13

For those of us in the USA, it is Thanksgiving weekend...for myself, this is one of the best weekends of the year.

First there is Thanksgiving day...we usually host. We're up early and off for our Turkey Trot and then home to turn on the parade for the kids and I get rolling in the kitchen (I'm the cook). Our family and friends start rolling in around noon...some sit around watching football and others gather around the appetizers...glasses of wine and beer are pored...plenty of toasting and hugging and in many cases, this is the only occasion that we will have to get together during the year (we're scattered all over the place).

I serve the feast around 3 (though my bird was a little slow this year) and we all gather together to celebrate and be thankful for this time we get to spend together. The rest of the afternoon is spent with some people passed out on the couch and others in the back yard playing football or shooting the breeze.

Then there is the Friday after...we have never done the black Friday thing (and never will)...but we take a short walk as a family down to the tree lot near our house and pick out our Christmas tree and then I throw it on my back like a squat bar and we walk home. I put about a gazillion lights on the tree and it has to be perfect...this takes me hours, but I throw on some Christmas music and get a fire going and poor myself some bourbon and get to work.

Once the gazillion lights are up, my kids (6 & 4) go to town decorating the tree...this year has been particularly "magical" with their ages. Afterwards we sit down to leftovers in the living room and throw on the Polar Express. At bed time we read the Elf on the Shelf to the kiddos (I'm thinking this might be the last year for our 6 y.o.).

On Saturday we get up and enjoy a lazy morning of egg sandwiches and coffee and we start putting out the rest of the Christmas decorations. This is also the day that I turn my Turkey carcass into an awesome stock. Winterfest opens down town in the afternoon and we take the kiddos down for some ice skating and other winter/Christmas festivities...when we get home, I use the stock and much of the leftovers and make a big turkey soup for dinner and another Christmas movie.

On Sunday the lights and rest of the outdoor decorations go up, but other than that it's pretty uneventful as we prepare for the work week ahead.

What are your traditions? Do you do Black Friday? Do you get rolling on Christmas?

Karb_Kween

I make Thanksgiving dinner all day and get off my *kitten* drunk

I don't black friday and putting up Christmas stuff is basically pointless because the only person who has money is my bf, my family is broke they barely have food for the rest of the month

cwolfman13

Karb_Kween wrote: »

I make Thanksgiving dinner all day and get off my *kitten* drunk

I don't black friday and putting up Christmas stuff is basically pointless because the only person who has money is my bf, my family is broke they barely have food for the rest of the month

Do you have to have money to put up Christmas decorations? For me, it's primarily about watching my kid's heads explode with the magic of the season. As they get older, that magic will disappear so I'm taking it all in now while I have the chance.

RoxieDawn

I do not DO black Friday, never have and never will.. As far as Xmas decorations, no tree any more, cats just knock it over, break ornaments, etc.. They try to eat the poinsettias too.. I will decorate the meal table and put out candles and a few decorations, but thats it.

We both no longer have our parents. And our kids are grown and out the house. So that Xmas sparkle and gleem in a child's eye are now gone. But we do travel to their homes or they come here, we do cook a Xmas dinner who ever is hosting that year (usually they are, they are proud of their new homes.. )

Grey_1

We're still getting into the swing of having our very own traditions. For years we took part in other family traditions, the get togethers etc. but now with the "kids" getting married, grand kids and all, we've become too large a group to keep flooding others homes lol.

So far we have the traditional meal, followed by various get togethers. All family stuff though, non of it related to shopping, which is priceless to my wife and I. We're not old by any stretch, but we're old enough to realize that if we blink we're going to miss things we shouldn't. So we too, are trying to take advantage of those moments while we can. They go by so fast.

cwolfman13

Grey_1 wrote: »

We're still getting into the swing of having our very own traditions. For years we took part in other family traditions, the get togethers etc. but now with the "kids" getting married, grand kids and all, we've become too large a group to keep flooding others homes lol.

So far we have the traditional meal, followed by various get togethers. All family stuff though, non of it related to shopping, which is priceless to my wife and I. We're not old by any stretch, but we're old enough to realize that if we blink we're going to miss things we shouldn't. So we too, are trying to take advantage of those moments while we can. They go by so fast.

yeah, I'm going to be sadz when "the bell no longer rings" for my kiddos...I get a little teary just thinking about it...

Grey_1

cwolfman13 wrote: »

yeah, I'm going to be sadz when "the bell no longer rings" for my kiddos...I get a little teary just thinking about it...

We're there lol. To be fair we do see them often enough, but we get those quiet times too when the doorbell is quiet and the phone doesn't ring. It's been good though. It's gives us a chance to recapture some of the moments we had way back when. That's priceless too.

Karb_Kween

cwolfman13 wrote: »

Karb_Kween wrote: »

I make Thanksgiving dinner all day and get off my *kitten* drunk

I don't black friday and putting up Christmas stuff is basically pointless because the only person who has money is my bf, my family is broke they barely have food for the rest of the month

Do you have to have money to put up Christmas decorations? For me, it's primarily about watching my kid's heads explode with the magic of the season. As they get older, that magic will disappear so I'm taking it all in now while I have the chance.

There's no reason to put up a tree without anything to put under it. I was talking to my bf abour putting lights up outside though. He doesn't like doing that or something

Lounmoun

I cooked on Thursday. My dad came for lunch. We watched some of the MST3K marathon. Had leftovers for dinner.
Thanksgiving is over. We don't have traditions after that.
Friday dh worked. I packed him a turkey sandwich and pumpkin pie. I hung out with dd. No one in my household shopped online or in stores. Dd did laundry. I scrubbed out the guinea pig cage. Listened to podcasts. Made minstrone for dinner.
The leftovers are in the freezer or gone.
It is a normal weekend at my house. Today I took the trash out. I made our grocery list for shopping tomorrow. Cleaned. Read a book with dd. Browsed the internet. Walked.
I refuse to do anything Christmas related before December 1st. We don't decorate the outside of our home.

neldabg

Wow. That's such a beautiful tradition, OP. It's like something I'd see in a movie or read from a book. Your kids will have such lovely memories to treasure in the future.
My Thanksgiving tradition growing up was always with immediate family members and us enjoying my Mom's awesome cooking when my dad got home from work. Nothing huge/fancy, but I cherish memories of the togetherness.
In the years after my siblings and I hit adolescence, we did take part in Black Friday, though my parents never liked Black Friday as much as we did.
Unfortunately, for personal reasons I won't share online, now that all but one of us is an adult, Thanksgiving weekends just aren't the same anymore....