Every year, on the fourth Thursday of November, one of my, and many Americans’, favorite holidays comes around. This holiday, Thanksgiving, is a holiday of food, family, and football.
First, a little Thanksgiving history. In the middle of the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln, prompted by a series of editorials written by Sarah Josepha Hale, proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be celebrated on the final Thursday in November 1863. Abraham Lincoln’s successors as president followed his example of annually declaring the final Thursday in November to be Thanksgiving. But in 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt broke with this tradition. November had five Thursdays that year, and Roosevelt declared the fourth Thursday as Thanksgiving rather than the fifth one. In 1940 and 1941, years in which November had four Thursdays, he declared the third one as Thanksgiving. With the country still in the midst of The Great Depression, Roosevelt thought an earlier Thanksgiving would give merchants a longer period to sell goods before Christmas. Since 1942, this holiday has been celebrated on the fourth Thursday.
Well, enough history class for you, my ever faithful readers. Time for some of my thoughts on Thanksgiving. This year my family traveled to Delaware to visit family and stayed in a condo for Thanksgiving. Even though we traveled, my mom was still insistent she cooked dinner. So, instead of having a traditional turkey dinner (it would be too much to cook in the relatively small kitchen), we had an Italian Thanksgiving consisting of lasagna, meatballs, pasta, salad, and garlic bread. It was delicious! So, in my opinion, you should experiment with your Thanksgiving dinner, not always going to the norm.
Getting together with family for holidays is always fun. Unfortunately, there are always going to be quarrels when you have that many people close to each other. So, parents, don’t be too harsh. No celebration is perfect, and kids are kids. Also, it is fun to travel for Thanksgiving. We children think staying home is boring, because it can be. It’s always fun to travel, especially with family. Also, things like going to parks or the movies help keep the troops amused.
Thanksgiving should be a fun, festive time.
P.S. Don’t drag kids out for Black Friday!