Don't Forget Thanksgiving • Mid Century Mom

I love holidays. From the 4th of July to Easter to Halloween. I love all the different Charlie Brown specials and home decor and general fun and excitement that surrounds them, especially since having kids.

Thanksgiving may be my favorite. And this is funny because it really doesn’t get any time in the spotlight. I’ve wondered if maybe this is why it’s my favorite…

A lot of the holidays we celebrate are pretty commercialized. Whether it’s gifts or candy or costumes or fireworks…there is no shortage of items you need to buy.

Thanksgiving, while it does usually mean you are going to spend a fortune on food, isn’t really about the stuff.

There are no activities. No trick or treating, no egg hunt, no firework display, no fancy date night, no gifts to fit into the day. Not that these things aren’t all fun–like I said I love holidays 🙂 But hustle and bustle can get a little stressful.

For Thanksgiving we come together to cook and eat and be happy!

What a wonderful holiday…

I’ve never prepared the full meal or hosted so I don’t mean to minimize the work that must involve. But still…what a nice thought that we gather around for no other reason, no event, no gift exchange, nothing but to be together and give thanks.

And what a shame that it seems to get such little notice other than for Black Friday deals.

Oct 31 had stores clearing out pumpkins and putting up trees! My dad went to a store on Halloween to buy a pumpkin and they told him they were all gone. ON Halloween!

We are forced into such a rush to move onto the next shopping frenzy thanks to the stores who want to sell you the decor and the presents as early as possible.

But Thanksgiving is that one holiday they really can’t get you on. No one is buying their food 3 weeks early.

So since there isn’t much money to be made I guess they just skip right onto the most commercialized holiday there is…beginning with the Black Friday madness.

Christmas comes earrrly these days. And I do love Christmas and all that it entails, but what about Thanksgiving?

I sit pretty firmly in the camp of “Christmas decorations wait until the day after Thanksgiving” but I did cave on the movies already. This past weekend the boys caught Home Alone AND The Grinch.

Then after thinking about poor skipped over Thanksgiving, I’ve decided I’m going to pump the breaks on those for a few weeks and make an effort to get in the Thanksgiving spirit instead.

This begs the question – Do Thanksgiving movies exist?

I had to research a little and think outside the box but here are some we’ll be watching this month:

For the kids:

The Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special (Of course!)

Free Birds

Turkey Hollow

A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving

Miracle on 24th Street (Okay kind of transitional into Christmas but plenty of Thanksgiving and parade action!)

Squanto: A Warriors Tale (I totally forgot about this movie til I went searching and looking forward to watching with the boys.)

For you:

The Friends Thanksgiving episodes (All available on Netflix for the rest of the year. #1 on the Thanksgiving list for me!)

You’ve Got Mail (okay not exactly Thanksgiving but there are a few scenes. Plus it’s “New York in the fall” and all that! I actually consider Sleepless in Seattle a Christmas Movie and When Harry Met Sally one to watch at New Years so Meg Ryan really has us covered.)

The Blind Side (some Thanksgiving scenes and football, perfect!)

What are some of your favorite Thanksgiving movies and traditions?

Check out these free printable place mats to incorporate this year!