Participating in New Family Traditions During the Holidays

A festive Thanksgiving dinner spread featuring a golden roasted turkey, vegetables, and wine

Growing up, I always looked forward to Thanksgiving. The thrill and excitement of seeing my family and spending time with them would keep me up at night with anticipation. It was always hard to focus at school the day before Thanksgiving because I knew, as soon as those bells rang to dismiss us for the day, my mom would pick my sister and me up, and we would be on our way to my Grandma's. We would literally drive over a river and through the woods to get to her house. And once you stepped inside the house, you were greeted with loving hugs and warm wishes from my Grandma, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Once all of the greetings were done, we were put to work. In my family, we did a lot of the Thanksgiving prep work the day before the big feast. It was during this time of dicing/peeling vegetables, tearing apart the stall bread, or prepping the pies that it was time for everyone to catch up with one another. The kitchen would be filled with conversations, jokes, and laughter. It was music to my ears. Then, of course, the big day would come. As the adults were preparing the turkey and placing the final touches on the feast, my sister, cousins and I would play in the woods in the backyard, play board games inside the house, catch up on what was going on in our lives, and steal food off of the dining room table when we though the adults were not looking. And, since I come from a large family and there was no room at the table, my sister, cousins, and I would sit at the cousins' table.

Then, on Friday, instead of participating in Black Friday Shopping, we all would go to Wendy's for lunch and then drive to the movie theater and watch the latest film. And it was around this time that there would be a new release of a Harry Potter film, so we would always watch the newest one together. Even though those traditions might be common to most families, they are special to me and played a big role in my life as I grew up.

But all good things must come to an end. As my cousins and I got older, things began to change. They would go off to college, move away, get married, and start their own family. It started to get harder and harder for my extended family to come together during the holidays, as they started new traditions with the families their children married into. And when I got married, I too started to participate in my new family's Thanksgiving traditions.

One of those traditions is Thanksgiving food shopping with my mother-in-law two days before the holiday. We go into Shoprite late at night, and without a list. We try to remember the ingredients we would need for the dishes, and if we forget something, we go out the next day to get it. Then, I help make six pies (she would make pumpkin, sweet potato, white chocolate raspberry swirl cheesecake, snowdrift coconut cream, pecan, and apple crumb pie) when normally my family would have three pies for Thanksgiving dessert. Finally, we stay up late in the night and watch A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Movie with my mother-in-law as we prep the food the night before. And with the leftover Thanksgiving food, my mother-in-law makes the best leftover Thanksgiving pie for dinner the next day.

Along with having new traditions with my husband's family, I also brought over some of my traditions from my family. I take off work the day before Thanksgiving and drive to my in-laws to stay the night and help prepare the dishes on the menu. When I think no one is looking, I might steal some of the food off the table. I have convinced my husband, brother-in-law, and my husband's cousins to create a cousins table, and we all sit there. And, once the feast is done, and everyone has enjoyed their pie and coffee, we all sit down and watch the Harry Potter Movies together.

I love Thanksgiving, and even though I do not see my family that much during the holiday, I am grateful to spend it with my husband’s side of the family and create new Thanksgiving traditions with them.

Are you interested in creating a new dish this Thanksgiving season? Or, set up a craft table for the kids to do while they wait for dinner? Check out these books from the Mercer County Library System to get inspired. You might find something in these pages that will begin a new tradition in your family

Recipe Books