I beg you, stop celebrating Christmas before we’ve even gotten into Thanksgiving season
As the clock struck midnight on Oct. 31 and Halloween officially came to an end, my Twitter and Instagram feed quickly began to fill up with Christmas cheer. I saw friends ditching the pumpkins on their porch for Christmas trees in the living room and sharing how they’d already begun listening to Mariah Carey’s holiday anthem “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” And, like millions of others who declare Christmas their favorite holiday, I honestly can’t wait to begin celebrating.
But not until after Thanksgiving.
I come to you today as a Thanksgiving advocate.
Look, I get it: it’s easy for Thanksgiving to get lost in the shuffle and chaos of the holiday season. It doesn’t have the fun of trick-or-treating or creating a costume that Halloween does. It doesn’t involve the giving and receiving of presents and a long break like Christmas. But, Thanksgiving is still a special holiday that deserves to be properly celebrated and seen as more than just the one day a year you eat turkey.
While Thanksgiving doesn’t have the flashiness of other holidays, there’s still lots going for the annual turkey day. Similar to Christmas, a significant theme of Thanksgiving is taking time to be present with family and friends. At APU, we get an entire week off to go home to our families or friends’ homes to relax and be with loved ones. The idea of sitting around a table to a feast only further encourages us to gather with those we hold closest.
Thanksgiving is also a holiday known for its traditions. Nationally, there’s the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and two NFL games hosted by the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys. Thanksgiving also allows for traditions unique to each family. Maybe it’s a tradition for you and another family member to break the wishbone or serve a unique dish at dinner.
There are other less serious but still fun elements to the Thanksgiving season like all the TV Thanksgiving specials. “Friends” gave us a number of iconic pop-culture moments like Joey and Monica putting turkeys on their heads and Rachel’s horrific trifle. The show also had a possible hand in creating the newer, but always fun tradition of Friendsgiving.
Do I even need to start on the role all the mouth-watering food plays in the holiday? What other holiday do we have where it’s not only acceptable, but encouraged to indulge in as much delicious food that you can fit on your plate?
Perhaps most importantly, Thanksgiving is, as the name implies, centered around the practice of taking time to acknowledge all we’re thankful for. While there may be periods of time where this is more difficult, I’m a firm believer that there is always something to be grateful about. Before the greed and selfishness which can sometimes creep into the Christmas season, it’s nice to have Thanksgiving to look back on what we cherish and are thankful for.
While it’s unlikely families across the country will collectively agree to start giving presents during Thanksgiving and we’re still waiting on a hit Thanksgiving-themed song, the holiday is still worthy of being celebrated. Because in its most simple essence, Thanksgiving is a season set aside for being with loved ones and reflecting on what we’re grateful for. Who wouldn’t want to take time to celebrate this?
So, before you begin pulling out your Christmas sweater and making a wish-list, I encourage you to show Thanksgiving the respect it deserves and hold back on Christmas festivities. Well, at least until all the Thanksgiving leftovers are gone…