There has been a lot of debate on whether or not it is right to go out and shop on Thanksgiving...I'm going to be honest with you all and tell you that YES, I will be one of "those people" who will be standing in lines on Thanksgiving Day and the day after. lol Would it be great if all the stores in the Nation could close on Thanksgiving and allow everyone to enjoy that day with family/friends? SURE! Is it realistic? NO! I figure, if I am out spending money on Thanksgiving and enjoying the time with my daughter (her first Thanksgiving/Black Friday event) and putting said money back into the economy then I'm not hurting anyone. I know....I know...don't even start in on me about it...I have heard it all already from my friends and family members on how its the principle of things..etc... This is not a perfect world people and well, people have to make money and if that means working on a holiday...then so be it. Not everyone has a job where they can afford to take off on every holiday, some people NEED to work any and every day they are given. My hubby worked last Thanksgiving and will again be working this Thanksgiving. It's not that he doesn't want to spend the day lounging around the house, eating good food, watching football and spending time with our family, no, it is simply because he needs to make a living for our family and lets face it folks, holiday pay is nothing to sniff your noses at.
I have been posting via Facebook about the things I am grateful for this month, I decided that I am going to TRY to post something like this every day. Why should we only announce that we are thankful during this time of the year? I am thankful for something every day of my life...aren't you? This thought took me onto another thought...
I am very grateful for my parents. We have been through the ringer since I was a teenager and well, doors may have been closed, but thankfully they were never locked for good. I used to wonder, a lot, if my dad (who adopted me when I was 8) and I ever really had a bond or not. He was not an emotional kind of man when I was growing up, let me interject that since the grand kids have come along he has gotten much better with showing his emotions, anyway, I digress...It was usually my dad and I who butted heads the most. I found it much easier to talk to my mom when it came to issues I was having, I never really stopped to think about how he showed that he cared for me in ways outside the realm of actual communication until just recently. See, my dad is a DIE HARD CUBS FAN...and well, at the age of 7 I became a DIE HARD WHITE SOX FAN; yes, this started out as my way of rebelling against him. Hey, I was 7 and he had just married my mom, I was allowed. lol Anyway, it was not til recently that I sat down and started thinking about how he may have showed me he loved me in other ways that I realized that this man, my dad, THE DIE HARD CUBS FAN, bent for me by taking me to baseball games....ALL were to see the White Sox play. I never thought of it then, I was a self absorbed kid after all who thought dad didn't like me. Now, after looking back on it, I know he must have loved me to put his likes aside to make sure that I enjoyed mine. I hope he knows how much I love him, how sorry I am for all the dumb and hurtful things I have said and done to him and mom over the years. It wasn't til just several years ago that I realized how important it is to have a loving and wonderful relationship with your parents. It is still hard for dad and I at times to communicate, but we are both getting better at it. We no longer sit in the same room just pretending the other is not there...yup, we are at least trying. And, for that, I am extremely grateful.
My parents have bent over backwards to help me and my children, a lot of the times without being asked. I never understood how a parent could do that until recently...it really opened my eyes. I love my parents, unconditionally. I have done and said things that they didn't have to forgive me for, things that could have split our family up with no hope of repair, but they never really truly shunned me. We may have had times of struggling to be civil to one another for the sake of my children, we may have had awkward times at family gatherings where we hardly spoke to one another, but with time, patience and lots of love and work we are starting to move on towards a much happier and healthier relationship. Yup...I have a lot to be grateful for.
Our son is going through similar issues right now...he is almost 21. He moved out when he was 18 to go live with my parents, the way he did it was very hurtful and it took us time to be able to move past it but we did. Now, he is living back home, in college and working...all things I am grateful for. He is not the most responsible adult he could be, were we ever at that age? I'm thankful that he doesn't have any children, like I did, at his age. I am trying to teach him that he has to man up and be responsible and get his priorities in check or he will be facing some very hard times down the road. Hubby and I are trying our own form of 'tough love' with him, don't know yet if it is working...I pray it is. Our daughter is going through her own mid teen crisis right now too. It is easy for us parents to forget how it was when we were teens, especially us moms. She is a Freshman this year...low man on the pole and that is not an easy thing to go through. She has a hard time seeing that she does have friends, friends who actually care about her and her feelings. I would love to say that I never had that problem, but well, that age is never easy and especially for us girls. I am doing my best to try and relate to her as much as possible....I must say she has a great relationship with her daddy, she seems to talk to him easier than she does with me. I can say that I am just happy she is talking to one of us, but honestly, I feel left out sometimes hearing things second hand. lol BUT, I will not let my feelings get in the way here. What is important is how our kids feel and of course we are always trying to make sure they know that they come first with us. Not always an easy job, I'm sure you know.
OK....I have rambled on long enough. Insomnia sucks! I am going to try and fix all my typos, but please look past any that I may have missed....after all my brain is not running quite right at the moment. :)
Hugs and Blessings....
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