Episode 6 - Thanksgiving: The Middle Child

When Fall comes around each year, people get excited about Halloween. “What will I wear?” “What will you wear?” “Who is going to have the most clever idea for a baby costume?” Halloween also brings about the ever popular (and mildly disgusting) Pumpkin Spice Latte at your local (possible corporate monster) Starbucks. But, it gets people excited. Walmart is covered with candy and orange decorations and plastic wigs that were made by the hands of tiny children in China (check the label).

Then, as soon as Halloween is over, the orange turns to red and green. “The Monster Mash” turns into “Jingle Bell Rock.” Hocus Pocus turns into Elf (I’m not complaining about that one. Look forward to a post entirely dedicated to Elf coming soon). The point is, some people kind of forget about Thanksgiving. It’s kind of like the middle child. Halloween is the first big holiday of the season. Everyone gets to come up with a costume and eat candy. People are excited, like when a couple has their first kid. Then the less exciting Thanksgiving comes along (middle child). It’s a story about pilgrims and Indians celebrating how mediocre they are at farming. THEN IT IS CHRISTMAS AND SANTA COMES, the third and final child.

I guess you could say I’m biased about how awesome the baby is. I’m the baby in my family and clearly I am the most clever and handsome and fun. Like Christmas.

So I guess I’m trying to say that we really need to not look over Thanksgiving. Let’s give Thanksgiving a song or two and maybe a Diane Keaton/Sandra Bullock or Tim Allen movie. It’s a time to be thankful for our family, friends, babies, and crocs (also, babies that WEAR crocs). There is awesome food and awesome people. It’s not quite as magical as Christmas but it’s just as powerful. Anytime where a family can reunite over a meal is a time to be proud of. We shouldn’t ignore Thanksgiving just like we shouldn’t ignore the middle child. After all, the middle child is a human, too.