Thursday, November 25, 2010

Thanksgiving

I have to be honest. I have become American in many ways but one thing I just don't get is Thanksgiving. Growing up in Vienna, we never celebrated Thanksgiving, even though my mother is American. When I was living in NJ with my grandmother when I was in high school, we never did Thanksgiving either. Ditto for when I lived in Israel.
Then we moved to New York and everyone is busy making Thanksgiving dinners and plans. I never knew religious orthodox Jews actually celebrate this secular holiday. And all the hysteria in the media about the traveling, the cooking, the family...there is a lot of drama.
My husband sees it as not really celebrating a holiday, rather just an opportunity to get together with some family and have a nice meal. The only issue with that is that other than my in-laws we don't quite have any family living in the US. But we work with what we have, so every Thanksgiving for the last 4 years, we take the train out to my in-laws and have a quiet and cute meal with them. Our kids run around the house and watch too much football. Then we take the train home and try to get out exhausted crew to bed at a decent hour.
Whatever your opinion on Thanksgiving, I was thinking that being grateful and thankful is always a good thing to do, so here is a short, by no means exhaustive list of things I am thankful for:
1) My husband- I don't really post about him a lot. Not because there is nothing to say, rather because there is so much. He deserves a lot of credit. For being a good husband and father, for supporting our family and enabling me to stay home with our children and mostly, for putting up with me and all my craziness :)
2) My children- I admit to being a bit of a kvetch and so I whine and vent. About the crazy things my children do, their shenanigans, their boundless energy, the mess and all the care they necessitate. But the truth is, and I am sure you all know this even when I am complaining, I love them to pieces and I can't imagine my life without them.
3) Our apartment- This might seem like a shallow thing to be thankful for but having enough space for our children and all their stuff is not something to take for granted when living in NYC. On November 30, it will be a year since we moved into our new place and we are really happy here. Especially because the doorman said our kids are the cutest kids in the whole building :)
There is obviously much more to mention- health, friends, etc. but I think I will leave it at that for now. What are you thankful for?

1 comment:

  1. I'm thankful for lots--similar things to you!! But I'm also thankful for thanksgiving: where I live it's the last non commercialized holiday: no gifts to buy, no expectations, just a big traditional meal and time with family. I think it's a bit different in the US, what with the football emphasis and the frantic shopping. Our thanksgiving is in October, so maybe that is why it has escaped the Black Friday Madness? Or maybe Canada is just to small a market to bother!!! Lol, but I'm usually thankful for thanksgiving, as a holiday I truly enjoy with very little stress. Also, no traditional CANDY for my kids to go nuts on....just good food....

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