Hi Neighbor!

This is a bit of a throwback, but do you remember the Wendy’s “Where’s the Beef?” commercial, with the three little old ladies examining a teeny tiny patty sandwiched between two huge buns? (For a quick refresher, check it out here). Indeed, where’s the beef?

Where on earth am I going with this, you wonder?  Well, I feel like one of those indignant little ladies, except my burning question is “Where’s Thanksgiving?!”

It seems that in the whirlwind of the holiday season that begins in October, the stores go from Halloween to Christmas overnight.  What about Thanksgiving though?  Where’s the homage to the holiday of thanks and gratitude and family and elastic-waisted pants?  Sure, the foods of the holiday are already showcased on end-caps and display shelves, but what about the other fanfare?

My kids are huge holiday lovers (they come by it honestly) and one of their favorite tasks is to decorate our windows with the festive gel clings that leave oil marks on your walls (first hand experience) and end up broken and stuck to things like boogers.  As soon as a season changes or a holiday month flips open on the calendar, we lovingly peel and re-wax-paper the window décor and unpeel the new for a good half hour of decorating fun.  On the morning of November 1st, I dug out the container of clings and sorted through the pile to find that our Thanksgiving clings from last year must have met their re-use quota, because to my dismay, we had none.

I added “Thanksgiving clings” to my to-do list for the day, and headed out the door.  As I’m sure you might be able to guess, this is where my burning question of “where’s Thanksgiving?” comes into play.  I visited 4 different stores.  I don’t want to turkey shame any of the stores publicly, but, these stores all sell other holiday clings and in fact had Christmas and Hanukkah clings already hanging on the end-caps.  Further scrutiny revealed very little in the Thanksgiving department at all, but the Halloween clearance racks were loaded and the Christmas trees, blow-ups and other fanfare was loudly and proudly displayed.  So again, my burning question – “Where’s Thanksgiving?!”

I know that the holiday itself isn’t about STUFF (nor is any other, I know).  But, some of the fun and enjoyment of the holidays IS the stuff that helps our homes and neighborhoods feel like the holidays.  I’m not wishing for an excess of “Gobble ‘til You Wobble” but it would be nice to have a little something between spooky and fa-la-la!

While the spirit of Thanksgiving may be missing from the aisles that we shop, I wish for you homes full of gratitude and cozy fall feelings through the month of November.  And, on the big day, as much turkey and pumpkin pie as your comfiest stretch pants can handle!

Warmest regards,
Kim