The Quiet Sparkle of Thanksgiving

I would have to say that Christmas time is my family's time to shine.

We are early Christmas people. Our tree is already up. Our normal decor is put away and Christmas everything has exploded everywhere in our home.

Christmas music plays 24/7 from a tiny radio in our living room. This radio belongs to my middle-est son, Bear, and it only comes out once the radio stations start playing all Christmas content.

As a child, my husband celebrated St. Nicholas Eve, so it is something that we've always done with the kids. Probably not the way it is intended in its country of origin, but our version is a tradition that we continue, even now, as the kids are mostly adults. We do it as a warm-up to the big day. The kids write their Christmas lists and place them in one of their shoes. Santa retrieves the lists and leaves a small gift and a handful of candy. We've moved from dollar store toys to a little cash these days, but we still have fun.

On Christmas Eve, we have a party. Usually, it's just the six of us at this party--but it's a party, nonetheless. We open one present. play games and listen to music. We watch movies. There is so much food. Leftovers last about a week. There is no fancy Christmas morning breakfast. It is tradition to chow down on leftover ziti, chili, sandwiches, party potatoes (I believe most people call them funeral potatoes but the person who introduced me to them called them party potatoes so that's that), and lots more. We do so much the night before, that we do NOTHING after presents on Christmas day. That is our time to relax!

All of that is great. I absolutely love it. It's a lot of work, but it's something we look forward to every year.

But it's not my favorite.

My favorite holiday tradition happened by accident.

When the kids were small, I worked overnights, and I hustled home on Thanksgiving morning to start cooking and watch the parade with the kids.

I wanted to do something nice for them before I started cooking. I looked in my cupboards and found some random boxes of muffin mix and I made them muffins for breakfast. To that, I added some hot chocolate with dollops of the cool whip we had for the desserts. I had a cup of coffee with the same dollop added and we snuggled up to watch the parade before I headed into the kitchen.

I didn't think much of this.

It was just Jiffy muffins and Great Value hot cocoa mix.

But the following year, the kids were so excited because I was going to make them muffins for breakfast. With hot chocolate and cool whip!!! I had no idea I was going to do this, and I had to make a last-minute run to the store for the much-needed supplies. They were so excited about it; I couldn't disappoint them!

What seemed like a random one-off breakfast has turned into a tradition that has been going at least fifteen years now.

The parade is now Christmas movies and Bear is in charge of cooking the turkey, but we still wake up early and have muffins and hot chocolate. We watch movies by the light of the Christmas tree and lazily cook the day away.

No guests. No rules. Just the six of us enjoying the day together.

It is the calmest holiday and I absolutely love it.

Christmas might be our time to shine, but I'm here for the quiet sparkle of Thanksgiving.

Comments

  1. ChristineNovember 13, 2023 at 8:42 PM

    Oh my! This makes my heart so happy❤️

    ReplyDelete
  2. AliciaoftheGBENovember 14, 2023 at 10:19 AM

    Girl, you have never lived if you haven't experienced the goodness of Jiffy muffins and Cool Whip in your hot chocolate or coffee! Yummy!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dances With VodkaNovember 14, 2023 at 5:08 PM

    Can I be invited over for some jiffy muffins and hot chocolate with cool whip? Some of my fondest holiday memories are not of the presents, but the laughs, the arguing when we've had enough of each other and the smell of good comfort food which would mellow us out after the arguing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. BethNovember 19, 2023 at 11:52 AM

    I love this so much. I know you said no guests, but I think Trish and I may have to pop over for breakfast.

    ReplyDelete

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