Thanksgifting? Isn’t that a typo?
Nope. It’s one of my favorite holiday celebrations.
Like Seinfeld’s made up holiday, Festivus, this holiday
celebration is a recent invention. Unlike Festivus, there is no airing of
grievances; just lots of good food, and most importantly, lots of presents.
The staff and volunteers at Kingstowne Library have been Thanksgifting for close to ten years. No one remembers exactly how it started, but
everyone looks forward to it every year.
This is how Thanksgifting works. Everyone buys a toy that
they would have liked to receive when they were a child. The gift is wrapped
and stacked in a bow and tinsel covered pile. Everyone takes a turn unwrapping
a gift and then guessing who donated it. After a few Thanksgifting
celebrations, it was easy to guess that Ted was crazy about Matchbox cars and
action figures when he was a little boy. Lori, who had horses when she was a
girl, always donated a toy with a horse theme. Most people have figured out
that whenever a gift is accompanied by a Nancy Drew book, it’s from me.
Some staff are a bit harder to pin down, or they just want
to keep us guessing. The unwrapping is usually followed by a reminiscence about
holidays past. We have learned a lot about each other over the years by sharing
these memories.
In the weeks between Halloween and New Year’s Day, it is
easy to feel more stressed out than festive. Thanksgifting is one day when
giving really feels better than receiving.
What’s your favorite holiday? What is the one gift that you
would have liked to receive when you were a child?
It is a sad commentary about my materialistic needs that I have a strong memory of a game in which the player was a submarine commander and the goal was to sink ships that “floated” across the sea. It was an early, early electronic game from 1960 or 1961 – and Dad broke it on Christmas Day!
ReplyDeleteIt stayed on the workbench in the basement for months before we conceded defeat and threw it out - and 50+ years later, I still remember. How sick is that?
Anyway, as an introvert who has always found things to entertain myself with, I'd probably look for games people could play on their own -- without being attached to Facebook!
~ Jim
I had not heard of Thanksgifting. What a great idea. I just celebrated Thanksmas (Thanksgiving and Christmas) with my sister who lives in Arizona.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite board games were Candy Land and Operation.
Great idea, Shari.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I'll admit it. My favorite toy was my horsie. They don't make them anymore probably because of safety issues. You'll probably remember them. A big 3D plastic horse that was mounted on four springs and attached to two wooden runners at the base. I could bounce that horse all over the house. Never fell off. I have a picture of me while still wearing a diaper with plastic pants approaching my horsie on Christmas Day by the tree.
It disappeared. Thirty years later, I have children. I'm bound and determined to find them a horsie. I found one at a yard sale. My children, to my great disappointment, weren't as thrilled with it as I was. (Electronics!) One of my husband's employees had a child. My horsie again disappeared and never was returned.
It's ten years later at my in-laws' downsizing sale. There was my sister-in-law's horsie. I bid on it. I bought it. It disappeared! I was mad. We scoured the parking lot and found it in someone's car. Someone who wanted the horsie as much as I did. We got the auction management involved. I got my horsie back. It's in my garage attic waiting for grandchildren!
If it disappears again, there will be hell to pay.
Hi Jim - Sorry, I can't stop laughing! I think "and Dad broke it on Christmas day" would make a great refrain to a country song. Funny how those early memories stick with us - I can still see my little sister taking her new tricycle for a spin - right into the Christmas tree! Maybe we should do a blog on holiday disasters.
ReplyDeleteHi Kara - Thanksmas is a great idea. With family members living far away, we have to get creative. I loved Candy land and Operation, too (though my hands were never steady enough for Operation).
Great idea. I will have to ponder about the gift.
ReplyDeleteE. B. - Nobody comes between you and your Horsie! (sounds like a Barb Goffman story!) When I think about the toys we played with - small pieces, sharp edges - and our cement playgrounds with metal equipment - it's a wonder we survived childhood -
ReplyDeleteShari, what a wonderful idea that is. We have a giving tree at my church that is put up before Thanksgiving with tags with needy children's names, ages, sizes and something they really want.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a child way, way, way before the age of electronics, my dad won a wire recorder. Probably most of you have never heard of such a thing. Anyway, my dad recorded our voices and on it I said what I wanted for Christmas. It was a Betsy Wetsy doll. That was the latest thing in dolls.
As for board games it was Monopoly, although we played card games mostly. With my children and grandchildren it was Sorry.
You're right, Shari, and I never mentioned the merry-go-round at the elementary school. It was killer--a wonder no one got killed--really. By the time I was in high school, the merry-go-round we so cherished was gone!
ReplyDelete