Mama Bear Moxie: Why Thanksgiving is better than Christmas

Shh, I’ll tell you a little secret.

I like Thanksgiving more than Christmas.

Whew! There, I said it. Now don’t get me wrong, Christmas is definitely exciting. I love being able to share the true meaning of Christmas with my family, but Thanksgiving is a holiday I am always so grateful for every year.

The long Thanksgiving weekend provides the time together as a family that I crave. The colder weather and the special food mush together to encourage lazy mornings, lots of game playing in pajamas and time together as a family.

Although my husband and I own a small farm where we raise chickens, rabbits and ducks, we are the worst at cooking a turkey for Thanksgiving. It has become quite comical as we know all there is to know about how to hatch, raise and butcher chickens, but we just can’t seem to cook a turkey to save our lives. There have been many years in a row when we entirely missed the mark despite the different ways that we have tried: baked, fried, smoked and brined. I can’t even go into details on the year that we served ‘Squeaky Turkey.’ So, now I opt for doing ham since the cooking is already done and I don’t have to use the oven for half the day.

I decided to start a few new Thanksgiving traditions with the first one being a cheese, pepperoni and cracker turkey that I pulled from Pinterest. My younger son is in charge of making the cheese platter turkey every year and lays it out on a baking sheet for all of us to munch on while the Thanksgiving dinner is cooking. It is his special thing to do that we all enjoy, and, it is the one kind of turkey that our family can actually pull off making.

The other tradition I decided to try was a Thanksgiving table runner. I made it out of leftover burlap fabric and added a border made up of curtain fabric scraps. Every year this runner adorns our Thanksgiving table, and I always make sure to have a few good sharpies on hand. Whoever is sitting around our table that year gets to write just one thing that they are thankful for along with their name and the year.

Some of the things written on the runner make me laugh like the year my toddler shouted out the first thing he was thankful for: cake. Others make me realize that maybe I am not totally bombing this motherhood thing when little kindergarten handwriting methodically wrote “my brother” in backwards lettering that was written by a little one who hadn’t quite figured out the art of letter spacing. I also look back at my own writing to remember the triumphs and struggles that the past years brought to my life. Some things that we are thankful for are no longer with us like our beloved farm dog that we lost this past year. I also reminisce as some people who are on the runner are no longer able to sit at our table.

At the end of our Thanksgiving dinner, sans the traditional turkey, I carefully trace over the older faded notes that are starting to show their age while being careful to not lose the integrity of the person’s individual handwriting. After a wash in the laundry the runner goes neatly back into the cupboard only to be pulled out the following year.

The Thanksgiving runner has become my favorite tradition. I look forward to the year that I have to extend it on each end to make room for more blessings. Someday too soon, I will look down at that kindergarten writing only to meet eyes with that same child that just became a new dad. I also know that there will come a time when I look down to see my parent’s handwriting the first year that they celebrate with us in Heaven.

Thanksgiving is a time to stop our busy lives and reflect on the past year. The runner reminds me that, even in the really hard years, there is absolutely always something to be thankful for.

Even if it is just a ham instead of turkey.