With the holidays coming this is a good opportunity to instill in your children, family loyalty for the traditions you celebrate. Let’s take Thanksgiving, for example, since that’s coming up. Whether you were hosting or you are going somewhere else, get your kids involved. If you’re hosting yourself, start making list and include your kids in the tasks. Make sure these tasks are age-appropriate and don’t talk about them as ‘boring chores’ but rather tasks that are fun to do and are part of the contribute they can make towards putting on Thanksgiving in your home. If your children are old enough, have them take on some of the food preparations, setting the table, bringing up folding chairs and tables from the basement if they’re old enough, etc. If you happen to be going to someone else’s home, talk about the responsibility involved in someone putting on Thanksgiving dinner to teach your kids to have respect for the effort involved, and get them involved on tasks as well in that respect too. Maybe you prepare an extra dish and have your kids help in preparing that in addition to the dish you normally take, You could ask the hostess if your kids could come over earlier or a day before to do something to help out, or whether the kids are at your house or at someone else’s, encourage them to help and clean up. By getting your kids involved, they may be more intentional about the holiday and they will have an appreciation for the effort involved.
In the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, have impromptu discussions here, and there about the meaning of Thanksgiving-we will cover this more in the weeks leading up here on itsagreatdayto.com . Also, ask them what they are grateful for. Talk about past Thanksgiving’s that they may remember and talk about Thanksgivings you remember as a child. Maybe you recall some of the dishes that you remember from Thanksgivings when you were a child and maybe your family is still making those dishes to serve on the Thanksgiving table today.
Lastly, talk about the traditions your family may observe around Thanksgiving. Some families go on a run in the morning before Thanksgiving, our family would do a family Turkey Trot through the neighborhood early on Thanksgiving morning. Some families going on a walk after dinner before dessert is served. Some families participate in a football game in the yard on Thanksgiving. Tell your kids what some of the traditions you remember as a child and if you don’t have traditions or you’ve let them go by the wayside, maybe you begin new traditions or resume the old ones.
The point is be intentional about Thanksgiving and all holidays with your children. There are many factors involved in building strong families. Spending time together and celebrating holidays are just two of them. These factors don’t just come about you have to discuss them, teach them and be intentional. What you’re doing when you discuss your family’s values, holidays and traditions is you are teaching them the importance of family. What I always hoped for was that as our kids grew older and had their own families was that they would still want us to be part of their families. Because when your kids get married and leave the nest, they become their own nuclear family, and us, the parents and grandparents are their extended family. It’s important to respect that nuclear family and understand our place as parents and grandparents as time moves on. That in itself is discussion for another day, but it’s an important concept to remember.
You are instilling in your children, the importance of family and the concept that they can count on their family in the good times and in times of need. When you make an effort to do things as a family and extended family, you are showing them that it’s important and it’s fun to be with their family and I believe setting the entire family up for many more Great Days in the future. We will continue on Thanksgiving next week.
(check out my RECIPES Page also on it’s a greatdayto.com from yesterday Thanksgiving 101 part one. I think you’ll like it.)
