Thanksgiving is probably the most laid back holiday we celebrate. Most holidays (esp. the religious ones) we spend with my dad and that side of the family. My dad's side is pretty religious and so Christmas and Easter are very important to them. As well, my dad has a pool and a large house on a lot of land with lots of space to have parties on holidays like the 4th of July, so we often end up there.
Celebrations at my dad's are always very formal (well not the 4th of July pool parites, but my dad is a little uptight and a lot OCD, so even laid back pool parties haev a lot of 'rules') - real silver dinnerware, dining at the dining room table, wine in goblets. This is very nice and I appreciate that my children get to grow up being exposed to that sort of stuff. I have no fear that they would not be able to assimilate into even the posh-est of parites as adults. But sometimes it's just too much. I want cheap beer and paper plates, throw-away napkins and plastic cups. I want the TV on while I eat.
At home, for every day purposes, we're an amalgam of both the above scenarios. We eat dinner together every night (try to anyway), we eat off of my very cool Goodwill plates, and we do use cloth napkins (cuz I'm green like that). We only have the TV on for special occasions (my kids think it the best treat of all to eat dinner in the living room and watch TV!). I want them to grow up knowing that mealtime as a family is a time to be together, not to zone out to the TV and devour your food without a thought in the world, to be aware of the food and company themselves. I want them to have good table manners, but I also want them to value the fact that spending time together as a family, no matter the setting, is more important than always knowing which plate is your bread plate, that the purpose of the holidays isn't just a show of cooking skills and dinnerware, but that even the quaintest of settings can equal the most meaningful and wonderful times of togetherness. That's what it's all about, after all, just being together for no other purpose than being together.
So Thanksgiving with my brother-in-law and his family is a nice, laid back affair. We eat off paper plates and watch football. We drink beer. The food is a mix of good ole homemade and store bought. It's so enjoyable. The kids get to run around. My BIL has some goats, ducks and a horse, so the kids get to play with the animals and no one frets about them getting dirty before (or after dinner). We just chill out, relax, maybe play a board game. It makes me so happy that my kids get to see both sides of how a holiday can be spent. While I appreciate the stringent adherence to tradition and etiquette that we find at my father's, all the pomp and glitter, I really love the laid back, no shoes, cold beer relaxation of the other side too.
and, because every blog is more amusing with pictures:
No comments:
Post a Comment