Out of Chaos an organizing newsletter
The Perfect Thanksgiving
Yesterday, as I was walking down the street with my daughter and her classmate, one of the girls looked in a store window and said, “It isn’t even Thanksgiving, why do they have all the Christmas stuff up already?” Knowing an opportunity when I see one I replied, “Because Thanksgiving is about family and gratitude, all they can sell you is a turkey, so only the grocery stores can make money. All the other marketers skip right from Halloween to Christmas.”
For me, Thanksgiving is a precious lull between resisting the store-bought costumes of Halloween and the urge to overbuy and overdo for Christmas.
Thanksgiving is easy: turkey and family. Period. Last year, I wrote about how I was eliminating Brussels sprouts because the kids don’t care and I am committed to keeping it simple. This year, I may eliminate the tablecloth that requires ironing. The turkey and the family will be just as good on my every-day Indian cotton bedspread that doesn’t need to be ironed.
It’s hard to be grateful when you’re running around making things “perfect.” This year I’m leaning into imperfection. I’m letting Thanksgiving dinner be simple, I’m not going to tweet pictures of my perfect table or my perfect Turkey, I’m just going to concentrate on being with my family, which actually is the perfect thing to do on Thanksgiving.