Ahhhhh, Thanksgiving

One of the most lavishly overindulgent days of the year, second only to Christmas. We stress about about the decorations, we stress about the food, and all for the family who loves us anyways! I don't personally cook Thanksgiving dinner, and if I did you can bet it would be a much simpler affair than what any of my relatives do. Do you really need a 20 lb turkey? A vat of mashed potatoes and gravy? Not really. No one wants to eat leftovers after the Saturday after Thanksgiving! We all get tired of them.

So why do we keep doing it? Tradition mostly, would be my first guess. But we as American's have a need to overspend and go overboard on everything from TV's, to fast food meals, to holidays. There is no in between for us, many of us try to do the best of the best from the beginning.

Now, I'll bet I sound a bit like a scrooge but don't get me wrong. I love the holiday season, in fact I started getting out Christmas decorations yesterday. I love to spend a few hours on Thanksgiving with my family and the hubby's family. I just wish, it wasn't a day trying to outdo each other with our fatty, high-calorie, high-carb dishes, and we could have a simple meal that we could all enjoy. Who says you have to have turkey on Thanksgiving? Apparently, my mother...who gets up at the crack of dawn on Thanksgiving to start cooking a turkey that she has been thawing for 3 days. The whole thing really takes at least a week of preperation. Well, if it makes her happy....but that's the whole thing. I don't think it makes her happy, I think she is trying to make everyone else happy. She gets so stressed about the whole thing, and in her opinion....no one ever helps her, even though I don't think she realizes that plenty of people offer to help, but she shoos them out of the kitchen, the minute they touch something. She ends up miserable and crabby, then takes it out on the rest of us with snide comments and rude remarks. I just thank God that my brothers fiance won't be there this year. I love her to death, but my mother makes her the target of the insults (behind her back, of course), when she is around and it just ruins any holiday/family coziness that I long to share on these days!

I just wish we could simplify these Holidays. Make it about family and not about who can make the biggest and best meal. I guess I have to be patient and wait my turn. For years, the gauntlet has been passed down from mother to daughter. For years my mother's mother held the familial celebrations, and then when my mother had grandchildren of her own, her mother passed the tradition down to her. So maybe, eventually it will be my turn...then I can start changing the overspending habits of America, one family at a time....starting with my own!