This year for Thanksgiving, I had an idea; it actually occurred to me the evening before Thanksgiving as I was considering the next day and all the stuff that had to get done and running around we had to do. I started to feel overwhelmed and tired even before I went to bed. I thought, "geez...I'm gonna have to get up at the crack..." and then bing! just like that an idea popped in my head..."why not get the kids up early and take them out for breakfast..."
This sounded great to me for a couple of reasons;
1. I could circumvent the inevitable morning bickering over the bathroom, toothpaste. etc.
1. We are a blended family, and unfortunately the kid's placement schedules conflict for Thanksgiving so we never get to spend this holiday together as a family...and
2. We could have hours of much-coveted "down time" together before Maddie had to leave for the day and the rest of us had to run off up north. So this is what we did and the missed hours of sleeping-in paid off BIG time.
For starters, our kids really like early morning gigs. I woke up Andrew first and whispered to him that we were going to McD's and he grinned and started to get up. I had the chance to tell him how thankful I was that he was my kid, and that I loved him and was proud of the young man he was growing up to be. I then woke the girls each separately and shared similar little "thankful moments" with them before we bundled up and hussled out the door.
I'm loving this.
We got to the restaurant at 6:15 AM and stayed for almost an hour.
I can't even begin to describe how good leisure feels.
When we got home, me and the girls started on the pecan pie. (yumm my favorite). Maddie helped with crushing the nuts and adding the ingredients to the mixing bowl. After the pie was in the oven, she sat by the fire next to James and read while Hannah peeled the sweet potatoes for the casserole. Andrew was on the couch playing with Nate and I felt like I was in the middle of a Charles Peterson painting of yest'r year.
By 10:00 AM it's like we've had a whole day together, and the day has hardly begun.
I have the good fortune of having my family and my husband's family close by. This year, we go up north to my folks house for deep fried turkey. And I do mean...up north!
Their home is at the end of a country road with the woods as their neighbor and the lake as a old friend. We spend the afternoon there as the fire crackles away in the enormous field stone fireplace, the football plays on and on and the snow gently falls.
But there's more turkey to be had...and when Maddie gets home we head out to NaNa's for swimming, hot-tubbing and relaxing with the Kocian clan.
It's a fun filled day for sure.
But the best part of the day? the morning.
And creating new memories with my own family, and new traditions...
like early morning drives to McDonald's before first light.
Baking pies together...
And whispering in their ears before dawn..."I am so thankful for you"
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