Embracing Gratitude: A Thanksgiving Journey for Single Moms and Their Children

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Can Thanksgiving be more than just a feast? Growing up, the holiday was all about the aroma of home-cooked meals and family gatherings, but I missed the deeper lesson. Join me as I uncover the essence of Thanksgiving, tracing its roots back to 1621 and the pilgrims' first successful harvest, and discuss how we can teach our children to embrace gratitude every day, not just once a year. As single moms, we hold the unique power to instill the value of thankfulness in our children, ensuring they understand how gratitude shapes our lives.

This episode shines a spotlight on the role of single parents in teaching children to appreciate everyday blessings. We explore the sacrifices made to nurture and provide for our families, and how sharing these stories with our kids can foster a deeper sense of gratitude in them. Hear about the joy of hearing a child say thank you and discover how to make this holiday meaningful by cherishing time with your loved ones and enjoying the simple pleasure of a hearty, home-cooked meal. Let's make gratitude a daily practice and transform this Thanksgiving into a memorable celebration for you and your family.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hey ladies, welcome to the Single Moms United
podcast, where we cannot spellunited without you.
If this is your first timelistening, welcome If you are a
repeat listener.
Thank you for your loyalty.
Today I want to talk aboutThanksgiving.
You know that holiday wecelebrate every year the fourth

(00:27):
Thursday of November.
Just as I talked aboutHalloween, I want to talk a
little bit about Thanksgivingand why we celebrate it.
But first of all, as aChristian, we consider every day
a day of Thanksgiving, considerevery day a day of thanksgiving

(00:48):
.
When we leave our houses everyday, we are so thankful that
we're able to come home to ahouse that's not burned down.
We didn't have an incidentwhere we were involved in an
automobile crash or whether it'spublic transportation, and
there were no incidents there.
We're just thankful andgrateful because God continues

(01:08):
to keep us, looks beyond ourfaults and see our needs, and
we're so grateful and thankfulfor that.
So, for a Christian, every dayis a day of Thanksgiving.
I didn't understand the realmeaning of Thanksgiving.
I just knew that there wasgoing to be some good food.
I knew there was going to be abig family gathering Just save

(01:32):
your appetite right, becauseeverything was just going to be
so good, and I remember us allgoing to my aunt's house and my
cousins and my aunts and uncles,and everybody was there and
we're just coming together andjust enjoying good food.
But did we really understandthe reason for Thanksgiving?

(01:58):
And I'm going to be very candidNope, had no idea, just knew
was going to get some good food,spend time with my cousins that
I hadn't seen for the last 12months, and everybody just come
together, laugh and have a goodtime and get full and eat some

(02:19):
great desserts.
Oh my gosh.
And you talk about fantastichome cooked meals.
Nothing was store bought,nothing came out of a can.
I mean, it was just awesome,absolutely awesome.
And so how?
Why would you think aboutanything else, right?

(02:40):
When you're getting all thisgreat food and this great
camaraderie with your family,what would you think about?
Like?
So what's the real reason forThanksgiving, right?
And I have a feeling.
I have a feeling that yourchildren may have the same
mindset that I had, well, in myyounger years.

(03:03):
How about that?
Because guess what, single mom,I didn't explain Thanksgiving to
my kids either.
Thanksgiving was never reallyexplained to me.
I heard something about thepilgrims and the Indians or
something to that effect when Iwas in school communication
within the family, or my ownfamily, of what it is and why we

(03:25):
celebrate it.
Yeah, it didn't happen.
So I always grew up with, okay,well, thanksgiving is about
good food and just spending timewith family, and that's a great
concept.
That's a great concept.
But then why do we only do itonce a year?
Think about that Again, ladies.

(03:46):
As a single mom, we have to takeownership and I've said this
many, many times before.
We have to take ownership inteaching our children why we do
what we do, because otherwisewe're just going to keep going
in this cycle, not understanding, you know.

(04:09):
Because, again, my question iswhy do we have to wait till the
fourth Thursday in November tobe thankful?
Why do we have to, you know,wait that long to spend time
with family?
Why do we have to wait thatlong to have this good food
fixed?
You know, using a can orprocessed food, we get real

(04:32):
macaroni and cheese, right.
So why do we have to wait tocelebrate being thankful?
And so, again, ladies, it's notup to the school to educate
your child regarding holidaysand festivities.
This is on you, this is on us.
I decided to do my own littleresearch around Thanksgiving.

(04:56):
I'm going to share it with youAgain.
I encourage you to do the same.
It's up to us to educate ourchildren so they have a clear
understanding of why they're outof school, why we're getting
together and celebrating a greatday, which it is what I found.

(05:20):
Thanksgiving was established in1621 by the English pilgrims who
were celebrating their firstsuccessful harvest.
Hmm, 1621.
Wow, that's a long time agoeven for me.

(05:40):
So if you have a young child,they're going to be like 1621.
What is that?
Yeah, it's an actual year, butanyway, that's how far back it
goes.
They held the occasion to thankGod for the great harvest in
the preceding year.

(06:00):
Abraham Lincoln, who was the16th president, declared the
event a national holiday inAmerica.
So in 1863, during the AmericanCivil War, he declared that the
fourth Thursday in Novembershould be set apart to give
thanks to God.

(06:21):
November should be set apart togive thanks to God.
Americans observe Thanksgivingto celebrate good health,
blessings in their family andprosperity.
So on this day, families cometogether and prepare different
meals, with turkey meat being amajor part of the meal.
So again, my question is I getthat they got the first

(06:42):
successful harvest and that'sfantastic, where they were able
to eat, and eat heartily, right.
However, it shouldn't stop there.
It shouldn't stop there, andthat's the part where we really
need to educate our children on.
To educate our children on yes,we designate it one day out of

(07:09):
the year, out of 365 days, tocelebrate being thankful and
grateful and so forth.
And now today's generation theydon't know anything about a
harvest.
Okay, so that's how antiquatedthis is.
They're not going to know that.
We're in an age of we talk tothings and they talk back to us,
right, so they are not going tounderstand.

(07:30):
Well, what do you mean?
Successful harvest?
Is it your job to go back andtell them about this great
harvest back in, or 1621?
Nah, nah.
But what you can do, ladies, isstart off now by saying you know
what?
Be thankful.
Be grateful you have a roofover your head, you have clothes

(07:54):
, you have family, you're ableto interact with people, you're
not sick, I'm not sick, we'refunctioning.
We may not be rich, but we'regetting by.
These are the things that youwant to share with your children
, because this is whatThanksgiving is all about, and

(08:16):
it's not just one day.
It's not just one day, and Ithink that's really what I want
to drill home here, and youdon't even have to be a
Christian to acknowledge thatevery day is a day of
Thanksgiving.
In this world today, if we'reable to go various places

(08:36):
without incidents, we need tojust be thankful.
If we have food, we need to bethankful.
Clothes, we need to be thankful.
If we have food, we need to bethankful.
Clothes, we need to be thankful.
We don't have to think back to1621 of the first successful
harvest.
Now you can share with yourchildren.

(08:56):
This is how it came about.
But now we are in a differentera, right?
We're in a different generation.
So we don't stop there.
We say this is why it cameabout, but this is what we're
doing to continue it.
And to continue it means wehave to acknowledge we are
thankful for everything that wehave.
It may not be the best car, butwe're thankful for it.

(09:20):
It may not be the best clothes,but be thankful for it, and
that's where we're thankful forit.
May not be the best clothes,but be thankful for it, and
that's where we're at.
And so, yes, we celebrate it thefourth thursday of every year
in november.
We can do that every day, sothis allows the family to come
together, enjoy one another,because, unfortunately, family

(09:43):
dynamics seems to bedisappearing.
Unfortunately, it just seems tobe disappearing, and as a
single mom, it starts rightthere.
Right, because now the fatherisn't in the picture like he
should be.
And so back in the day, when wetalked about family dynamics,

(10:04):
you had a two-parent household,and now you're just you trying
to do it on your own.
So those dynamics have changed,and so one of the things that
was just extremely exciting forme is because it was a family,
it was a unit, and now thatthat's changing, you know, our

(10:25):
approach has to change a littledifferent as well, and so that's
why we have to teach ourchildren or you have to teach
your children that every day isa day of Thanksgiving, and not
just, you know, the fourthThursday of the year, but that
still falls on you, single mom.
Now here's another fun fact.

(10:46):
So why do we eat turkey onThanksgiving?
Okay, they sell turkeythroughout the year, so why do
we just people eat it, or getthe big bird, I should say for
just Thanksgiving?
So looks like, based on what Iresearched according to Thomas D

(11:06):
Baco on what I researched,according to Thomas D Baco, this
was because a group of poultryproducers launched a marketing
campaign during the post-CivilWar years to eat more turkey,
and especially aroundThanksgiving.
Now, how true that is, I don'tknow.
You might want to continue todo your research.

(11:27):
Kind of makes sense Even backthen.
Right, you have folks that'sproducing and trying to make
that money and so thereforethey're going to push it and
they pushed it in a specifictime and especially aligning it
with the holiday, and that makessense to me.
Again, I'm not sure that'sfactual or not.

(11:49):
Turkey is sold throughout theyear.
Matter of fact, I get smokedturkey legs or, um, regular
turkey legs all the time and maycook it for Sunday dinner and
with some sides and so forth.
So I'm not waiting until thefourth Thursday of November to

(12:12):
have turkey.
I just don't wait.
Back to my childhood.
I don't remember my mom cookingturkey any other time of the
year.
I don't remember her ever doingthat.
So it was more for a specialoccasion as well.
Ladies, there you have it.
So something that wasestablished seems like ancient

(12:36):
history and we're still goingalong with it, and I think we
still should.
Right, but I think we alsoshould educate our children why
we are celebrating Thanksgiving.
What's the purpose?
And then, after you educatethem of how it originated, now

(12:58):
you put the comma behind thatand say every day is a day of
Thanksgiving, every day is a dayof being thankful.
Teach your children how tothank you, single mom, because
you are out there trying to doit on your own.
My kids used to say thanks, mom, and I tell you what.
That is the greatest feelingever.

(13:21):
You should teach your children.
Things aren't being droppedinto the house.
You're having to get out thereand make things happen.
There's a lot of sacrificesthat come with that.
Yes, they didn't ask to be here, but by golly they are here.
They should understand whatsome things take to run your

(13:45):
household and for that theyshould be grateful.
All right, ladies, I hope youenjoyed today's episode of
Thanksgiving and I hope you havea fantastic holiday and don't
eat too much.
I'm not gonna lie.
I'm gonna tear some stuff up.
Gonna tear some stuff up.

(14:05):
I'm ready.
I'm ready for a goodhome-cooked meal.
All right, ladies, you takecare.
Have a fabulous day, have afabulous week, embrace your
children and tell them you lovethem.
Take care.