It has always amazed me that Halloween is celebrated with such enthusiasm each year and yet it has very dark origins. Kids love halloween for some reason and the commercialisation of the event gains momentum each year. Personally, I would gladly skip Halloween night. Once my kids have lost the desire to go trick or treating and stuffing themselves with enough e- numbers to send even the most docile child into orbit, I will gladly let that tradition fall by the wayside.
For me, Thanksgiving Day is a date that is much more family orientated than Halloween. Why don’t we celebrate it in Ireland. Have we nothing to be grateful for? Surely we can find some light in the darkness.
While this date is religious in origin, I think that in the US and Canada and anywhere else it is celebrated, it has long been associated with gatherings of family and friends. While I love Christmas and all that goes with it, I think that Thanksgiving is a day that can be celebrated much more simply. There is’nt the stress or the expence of all the shopping and gift exchanging.
A gathering at home with family and loved ones is all that is necessary. A date which is set aside on our calenders to remember and express our gratitude for their love & support throughout the year can only be food for the soul for everyone involved. Kids certainly benefit from being reminded that it is important to acknowledge and be grateful for the blessings(and the play stations)that they have.
This year, why not start a new Family tradition and celebrate Thanksgiving Day, November 26th. There is’nt much else happening in November so you may as well! Keep it simple. The people you celebrate it with are your nearest and dearest and they will be grateful just to be included. Relax and enjoy the warmth of good friendship and family and return some prospective in our thinking to counteract all the doom and gloom which we are listening to everyday.
At Chuckies, we are giving thanks to all our customers for supporting us throughout the year by offering 25% discount on play vouchers purchased on November 26th. Details are on our Special Offers page. Happy Thanksgiving Day.
This book, written by Marti Leimbach is now available at our Book Exchange. It is the story of a family struggling to deal with a diagnosis of Autism and is a moving account of the depth of a mothers love. It is a story that anyone who is raising a child with Autism can relate to and it is clear that the Author was drawing on personal experience when writing this book. It is a powerful and touching story and I can highly recommend it.