Here’s a picture from today with absolutely no context:
My sister out cooked me but only because she over does it. It was absolutely delicious and I ate entirely too much for someone whose digestive system doesn’t work quite right, I got to spend time with some family, and the stuff I made got good reviews.
However the Kid is asleep next to me with what appears to be a mild fever, and I’m writing this with one eye closed because I’m sleepy and they like to focus on two different things when I’m tired.
So goodnight, and have a great Friday! And if you plan on shopping be kind to retail workers and your fellow customer! OR ELSE.
In which I rush a very chaotic post about Thanksgiving. edit: AMERICAN THANKSGIVING. Also: I do not profess to be an expert at anything, especially research.
Gobble.
Three days ago (11/19) I posted a poll on Twitter (we’ll talk about that at some point) asking if anyone talks about pilgrims on thanksgiving. No one voted so I’m really just embarrassing myself by acknowledging it.
How the day came to be.
Traditionally we were told that the pilgrims were people from England who left their home country to find a new land where they can practice religion the way they wanted.
They started to get super hungry and saw that people who we used to call Indians were growing all kinds of goodies. Those NATIVE AMERICANS taught the pilgrims how to grow corn, which it what is always shown in the old pictures.
Then to celebrate this, they all had dinner together, and giving thanks for their new friendship. And they all lived happily ever after.
Only NOT.
What really happened is a whole bunch of various celebrations of “giving thanks”. These celebrations spanned from roughly the 1600s on. The earliest events were because the people were simply grateful they landed after lord knows how long in a ship on the ocean.
Some of these too, we’re just being happy to be around a still and having what they needed. And yes, a few of them were particularly documented, which includes the one where the puritans sat down with the local native tribe and they broke bread. But this was not the first nor was it the only celebration at this time.
In reality
There are a LARGE number of people who believe that celebrating Thanksgiving, is just accepting the fact that colonists came to the then untamed land and stole from and oppressed people native to what we now know as America.
There’s also the problem of colonists bringing diseases that the Native American tribes they encountered had never come in contact with before, therefor submitting them to illness they mostly did not survive.
Now, while he celebration we were all told about in elementary school was a real thing that happened, sort of mostly the way we were told, it was just one Thanksgiving that was written down.
And apparently lost and then found again, like, 200 years later.
While this event, and many others are all in themselves very interesting tales to research, where not here for that. We are hear for the facts. Well, the facts as I read them and then haphazardly spew them back out into a blog post.
And Now?
There are some that celebrate Thanksgiving and Columbus Day (that’s a whole other cup of tea) as a “National Day of Mourning” to acknowledge the “genocide and conquest of Native Americans”. Because old white people think, as they’ve always thought, that they’re better than non-white people, they created a holiday that celebrated something good they did, hiding or simply choosing not to discuss all the bad things they also did.
There are also people who celebrate Friendsgiving, where in place of gathering with family, you share a meal with friends. Whether this new fangled tradition was created to spite the negative connotations of Thanksgiving, or just a reason to celebrate with friends, I don’t know.
How do you celebrate?
Like 90% (my estimate) of the country, I celebrate with my family. Mostly just my sister and her crew get together with my crew. We spend an ungodly amount of time, money, and effort, purchasing ingredients and cooking dishes and then we eat. And then we get really tired and don’t want to do anything but nap after.
This year’s menu is about the same as every year, Turkey, ham, dressing, mashed potatoes, all the typical dishes. Except green bean casserole, we’ve never had that.
Capitalism Really Popping Off
You didn’t think I’d forget to add my classic “Happy Merry Capitalism” bit? While Thanksgiving isn’t the biggest federally approved consumerist holiday, it does have its money making aspects for businesses. Because the only people who raise turkeys are the ones lobbing off their heads, plucking them smooth and selling them off by the pound.
Unless you legit raise your own Turkey and if you do, I salute you.
Nope, you gotta buy your food somewhere, and while a lot of places that sell food are family owned farms, the bulk of them are in it for the dolla bills y’all.
Butterball brand might have once been owned and operated by a family, but they’re now run by a conglomerate, which is owned and operated by, you guessed it, old white men in suits. Probably.
But also
Like every single other holiday, commercial or not, we all celebrate differently from each other and from the way it was celebrated when it first began. I mean, up until the last few years, there were people who planned their Thursday dinners around the National Day of Sales, Black Friday. And some people even write zombie stories about that (That’s me, I’m some people)!
And yes, it’s not lost on me that we have circled back to commercialism.
The fact is, celebrating Thanksgiving doesn’t mean you’re celebrating freedom of religion, or the horrible treatment of native people displaced by old white men’s agendas and mistaken belief of superiority.
And you should enjoy the fourth Thursday of November however you choose to go about it. Because it won’t be long before we don’t even have the day. In 30 years we’ll have Chrismaween. And Mr Gobbler will be a figment of old people’s imaginations.
Honestly I think it’s because of Black Friday (the sales not the book) and Big Turkey, that we still have thanksgiving. Meme Made here.
In order to be a good mom, you need to love your kids, care for them, provide for their needs, and show them you care. Understand they they have their limits just as you have yours.
You’re not a bad mom if you want some quiet time to yourself. And you’re not a good mom just because you don’t ask for that time, or you prefer not to have it.
But you also need to take good care of yourself in order to take good care of your kids. If you’re not in a good place physically, mentally, emotionally, you might have a difficult time caring for someone else. Especially when they might be able to see that.
Children are intuitive. They know things. They sense things. My kid knows when I’m depressed. She’s especially loving on those days. I check myself before I problems affect her or our relationship.
There is no such thing as the perfect mom, but I’ve met and experienced some pretty darn good ones. Well all have our flaws. But that doesn’t mean we don’t try our best.
HappyMother’s Day to all my mommas. New Moms, old moms. Moms that are biological, moms that aren’t.Step moms, bonus moms. Adoptive, Mom-in-laws. The aunts and grandmas who are raising someone’s babies. There are all kinds of moms.Out there. And I know someone thinks you’re a good one, even if you don’t think you are sometimes.
In six (five?) days, on Christmas Day, I will be doing something I’ve never done before.
I will be performing a wedding ceremony.
Yep. Wow.
What started out as a joke ( originally involving sloth and unicorn masks) and entirely my fault soon snowballed into me becoming ordained online and legit agreeing to marry my co-workers.
(I’d also like to add that they couldn’t find anyone willing to marry them on Christmas Day)
And I’m low-key freaking out.
I keep asking her if there’s something special she wants said or done, and all she’s given me is “no opportunities to object”.
I get it. She just wants to get married, legally. I completely understand. But when I do something… I overthink and over complicate to the point of making it harder than it should be.
But I really want to do a good job, and leave them with good memories of the day. Not just an exchange of rings.
So I’m trying to write out something sweet and heartfelt to say, and find the proper vows to make it beautiful.
I’m also extremely nervous about speaking in front of people I don’t know. Lol
‘Tis the season of the naked baby with wings and a sharp object pointed at people.
I’ve seen a lot of hatin’ on the VD the last few days, and let me say, it’s a teensy bit annoying. And yes, I am allowed to say that. I was also allowed to say “I hate Valentine’s Day” when I was Valentine-less. Just as you are. So hush.
Yes, I have a Valentine. But many moons ago, I never ever thought I’d have one. In fact I thought for years I’d be alone for all my February 14ths. But I never hated on anyone for having a valentine.
STORY TIME
I remember specifically, Valentines Day 2003. That was my senior year and the year I got caught skipping swim class and was assigned sports reports for my trouble.
Yes, this is relevant.
You see, the principal who assigned these reports (the one who pseudo-suspended me, would have kept me from graduating) told me to report to the library every day in place of what was my swim class. But for the first week, the library was being renovated. So, Mr. Barber said to sit it out in the office.
That was also the week when Valentine’s Day arrived. So, I sat in the office during peak flower delivery times. I watched as flowers boys’ moms paid for for their sons’ girlfriends passed through the office door. Though I knew I wouldn’t get anything, I secretly and silently hoped/imagined that one of those many thousands of dollars worth of bouquets would have my name on them.
I was mildly jealous, but knew that all these girls getting flowers from their Valentines would be happy. Just as I knew I would have been.
My first Valentine’s Day didn’t come for five more years, when my future husband brought a dozen roses to my house, along with a Vermont Teddy Bear. I finally had a Valentine.
But I firmly believe that you don’t have to be in love to have a Valentine. If elementary school children swap Valentine’s cards, then I can give my friends a card. Heck, buy yourself a box of chocolates.