Taking A Break From Thanksgiving
This year I made a choice. It was not made out of self pity or despair. Rather it was just made from taking an honest look at my life and knowing what I am capable of.
I’m not doing Thanksgiving this year.
Huh?
It sounds bad to actually come out and say it, but I can’t tell you the relief I’ve felt over this decision.
Let me clarify what I mean though.
Normally we spend November reading books on pilgrims and the mayflower, I attempt a craft I found on Pinterest (I’m so not crafty) and we might make a fun treat together. Sean has read the same book on Pilgrims out loud to the children for over 5 years now. We have used this fantastic study on Thanksgiving hymns before. It takes a lot of work for me to pull everything together, and I attempt to add all this additional learning on top of our regular school.
This year I knew I couldn’t keep up. Instead of it being a joyful time together as a family, it would be a huge stress. I would not be giving thanks, instead I would be counting down the days until November was over.
I made this decision based on our season of life. We have an adorable seven month old little girl that is taking all of our energy. I’m trying to stay on top of the math facts and the girls that are learning to read. The laundry often takes over the living room space, and the baskets waiting to be folded just beat me down to discouragement. We are launching Character Badges, and I’m trying to be present in that business for my husband, as well as keeping up with this blog and Deborah & Co.
Life is busy. Life is good.
This year I’m going to help cook our Thanksgiving dinner that we spend with family, and rest knowing that my children have already been trained in the history of Thanksgiving. I’m going to enjoy the times of going around the table sharing what we are thankful about, knowing that I have many things I can share. I will enjoy attending the Thanksgiving dinner at our church.
The one thing I will do is check out some books from the library on Thanksgiving and leave them out for the children to read if they wish. I won’t win any supermom awards because of that, but I’m totally ok with it. 🙂
My husband already came to me and said we are going to sit down with a calendar soon and plan December out. He loves the family time that December brings, we enjoy caroling and family drives looking at lights, music concerts, etc. We are going to put it all down on the calendar and enjoy the business of December as we celebrate the birth of our savior.
When it comes down to it? I’m most grateful for the gift of Salvation. Without a baby being born in a manger many years ago, I would not be where I am. I’m looking forward to spending the month of December celebrating what eternally matters.
And next year? I’m hoping to enjoy all things Pilgrim.
(Please note, I have nothing against Thanksgiving, I love the holiday and think it can be an amazing month of giving thanks.) 🙂
Thank you for sharing this. I don’t know how you do it all! Your family is blessed to have you. And I agree-the best gift of all to be thankful for is the gift of salvation, and that’s the most important thing to teach our children. Have a blessed Thanksgiving!
Good for you :). My Thanksgiving celebration growing up was watching the parade in the morning and eating turkey in the afternoon. I have great memories of those times.
It’s a sad world we live in that we have to justify our choices! Doing what is best for our family should be the top priority behind glorifying God, and not participating in the dogmatic rituals that are expected does not need an explanation. Enjoy your family, get rest, and don’t worry about having to justify anything to anyone else. 🙂
I don’t feel like I have to justify it, I wanted to share for other moms who might be doing the same thing so they know they are not alone! Whew. Talk about a run on sentence. 🙂
LOL- love this post! I had to take a break from Christopher Columbus this year for the same reason: years of Columbus books and ship crafts had just burned me out.
I have also felt Pilgrim fatigue. After all, it’s always the same story, just different versions, and sometimes it’s really good to take a break and come back fresh another year. This year I have put out all our Thanksgiving books for the kids to enjoy on their own. For a read aloud, I found “Who’s That Stepping on Plymouth Rock?” by Jean Fritz. It is short- we read it over the course of a week, and we had never really studied the history of Plymouth Rock, so it was interesting.
Anyway- enjoy your break!
“Pilgrim Fatigue” made me smile. 🙂 I understand!
Oh, but you’re not taking a break from giving thanks – and that’s what Thanksgiving is all about, right? Wise decision to take a break for a year when you all really need it!
We are not doing the 30 days of Thankfulness, or the Thanksgiving tree, etc. so I feel like I’m taking a break from the month of thanks, just not the actual day of. 🙂
Good for you! 🙂
Thank you! 🙂
This is going to sound bad, BUT I don’t even remember the history of Thanksgiving even though I learned it every single year in school. What I do remember though is giving thanks either around the dinner table or in a journal like i do now each day, and I remember the family meals. We always had one with my maternal grandparents and aunts/uncles and one with my paternal. I remember playing games with cousins and getting dressed a little bit nicer to celebrate the occasion. The smell of all the yummy foods which we always did potluck style because of the number of people. While I know there is a lot of history that has slipped my mind over the years, I still look forward to seeing everyone and how much all the kids have grown, how us cousins have all turned into mama’s and seeing how the generations have changed. Maybe one day I will pick up a book and re-learn about the history of it all, but I have no guilt in not knowing because I am grateful for a day made to practice being humble and giving thanks!!
Thank you for being so honest. I completely understand. My youngest is 8M and I have 3 older children (5, 4, & 2). I have come to the point in my life where I get easily overwhelmed in the midst of caring for my family, starting to home school, and then we are always having company over since my husband is a co-pastor. I need things simple and sometimes we all go through seasons of life like this. It is good for us to recognize when we need a break and to go ahead and take one, this is best for our family because a frazzled and overwhelmed mom does not do the husband or children any good.