Tuesday, November 26, 2024

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

Show Notes

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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Show Transcript

Hey ladies, welcome to the Single Moms United podcast, where we cannot spell united without you.

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If this is your first time listening, welcome If you are a repeat listener.

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Thank you for your loyalty.

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Today I want to talk about Thanksgiving.

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You know that holiday we celebrate every year the fourth Thursday of November.

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Just as I talked about Halloween, I want to talk a little bit about Thanksgiving and why we celebrate it.

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But first of all, as a Christian, we consider every day a day of Thanksgiving, consider every day a day of thanksgiving.

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When we leave our houses every day, we are so thankful that we're able to come home to a house that's not burned down.

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We didn't have an incident where we were involved in an automobile crash or whether it's public transportation, and there were no incidents there.

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We're just thankful and grateful because God continues to keep us, looks beyond our faults and see our needs, and we're so grateful and thankful for that.

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So, for a Christian, every day is a day of Thanksgiving.

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I didn't understand the real meaning of Thanksgiving.

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I just knew that there was going to be some good food.

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I knew there was going to be a big family gathering Just save your appetite right, because everything was just going to be so good, and I remember us all going to my aunt's house and my cousins and my aunts and uncles, and everybody was there and we're just coming together and just enjoying good food.

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But did we really understand the reason for Thanksgiving?

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And I'm going to be very candid Nope, 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 12 months, and everybody just come together, laugh and have a good time and get full and eat some great desserts.

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Oh my gosh.

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And you talk about fantastic home cooked meals.

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Nothing was store bought, nothing came out of a can.

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I mean, it was just awesome, absolutely awesome.

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And so how?

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Why would you think about anything else, right?

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When you're getting all this great food and this great camaraderie with your family, what would you think about?

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Like?

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So what's the real reason for Thanksgiving, right?

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And I have a feeling.

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I have a feeling that your children may have the same mindset that I had, well, in my younger years.

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How about that?

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Because guess what, single mom, I didn't explain Thanksgiving to my kids either.

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Thanksgiving was never really explained to me.

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I heard something about the pilgrims and the Indians or something to that effect when I was in school communication within the family, or my own family, of what it is and why we celebrate it.

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Yeah, it didn't happen.

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So I always grew up with, okay, well, thanksgiving is about good food and just spending time with family, and that's a great concept.

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That's a great concept.

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But then why do we only do it once a year?

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Think about that Again, ladies.

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As a single mom, we have to take ownership and I've said this many, many times before.

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We have to take ownership in teaching our children why we do what we do, because otherwise we're just going to keep going in this cycle, not understanding, you know.

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Because, again, my question is why do we have to wait till the fourth Thursday in November to be thankful?

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Why do we have to, you know, wait that long to spend time with family?

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Why do we have to wait that long to have this good food fixed?

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You know, using a can or processed food, we get real macaroni and cheese, right.

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So why do we have to wait to celebrate being thankful?

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And so, again, ladies, it's not up to the school to educate your child regarding holidays and festivities.

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This is on you, this is on us.

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I decided to do my own little research around Thanksgiving.

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I'm going to share it with you Again.

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I encourage you to do the same.

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It's up to us to educate our children so they have a clear understanding of why they're out of school, why we're getting together and celebrating a great day, which it is what I found.

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Thanksgiving was established in 1621 by the English pilgrims who were celebrating their first successful harvest.

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Hmm, 1621.

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Wow, that's a long time ago even for me.

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So if you have a young child, they're going to be like 1621.

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What is that?

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Yeah, it's an actual year, but anyway, that's how far back it goes.

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They held the occasion to thank God for the great harvest in the preceding year.

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Abraham Lincoln, who was the 16th president, declared the event a national holiday in America.

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So in 1863, during the American Civil War, he declared that the fourth Thursday in November should be set apart to give thanks to God.

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November should be set apart to give thanks to God.

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Americans observe Thanksgiving to celebrate good health, blessings in their family and prosperity.

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So on this day, families come together and prepare different meals, with turkey meat being a major part of the meal.

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So again, my question is I get that they got the first successful harvest and that's fantastic, where they were able to eat, and eat heartily, right.

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However, it shouldn't stop there.

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It shouldn't stop there, and that's the part where we really need to educate our children on.

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To educate our children on yes, we designate it one day out of the year, out of 365 days, to celebrate being thankful and grateful and so forth.

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And now today's generation they don't know anything about a harvest.

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Okay, so that's how antiquated this is.

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They're not going to know that.

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We're in an age of we talk to things and they talk back to us, right, so they are not going to understand.

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Well, what do you mean?

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Successful harvest?

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Is it your job to go back and tell them about this great harvest back in, or 1621?

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Nah, nah.

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But what you can do, ladies, is start off now by saying you know what?

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Be thankful.

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Be grateful you have a roof over your head, you have clothes, you have family, you're able to interact with people, you're not sick, I'm not sick, we're functioning.

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We may not be rich, but we're getting by.

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These are the things that you want to share with your children, because this is what Thanksgiving is all about, and it's not just one day.

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It's not just one day, and I think that's really what I want to drill home here, and you don't even have to be a Christian to acknowledge that every day is a day of Thanksgiving.

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In this world today, if we're able to go various places without incidents, we need to just be thankful.

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If we have food, we need to be thankful.

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Clothes, we need to be thankful.

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If we have food, we need to be thankful.

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Clothes, we need to be thankful.

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We don't have to think back to 1621 of the first successful harvest.

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Now you can share with your children.

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This is how it came about.

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But now we are in a different era, right?

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We're in a different generation.

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So we don't stop there.

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We say this is why it came about, but this is what we're doing to continue it.

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And to continue it means we have to acknowledge we are thankful for everything that we have.

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It may not be the best car, but we're thankful for it.

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It may not be the best clothes, but be thankful for it, and that's where we're thankful for it.

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May not be the best clothes, but be thankful for it, and that's where we're at.

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And so, yes, we celebrate it the fourth thursday of every year in november.

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We can do that every day, so this allows the family to come together, enjoy one another, because, unfortunately, family dynamics seems to be disappearing.

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Unfortunately, it just seems to be disappearing, and as a single mom, it starts right there.

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Right, because now the father isn't in the picture like he should be.

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And so back in the day, when we talked about family dynamics, you had a two-parent household, and now you're just you trying to do it on your own.

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So those dynamics have changed, and so one of the things that was just extremely exciting for me is because it was a family, it was a unit, and now that that's changing, you know, our approach has to change a little different as well, and so that's why we have to teach our children or you have to teach your children that every day is a day of Thanksgiving, and not just, you know, the fourth Thursday of the year, but that still falls on you, single mom.

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Now here's another fun fact.

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So why do we eat turkey on Thanksgiving?

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Okay, they sell turkey throughout the year, so why do we just people eat it, or get the big bird, I should say for just Thanksgiving?

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So looks like, based on what I researched according to Thomas D Baco on what I researched, according to Thomas D Baco, this was because a group of poultry producers launched a marketing campaign during the post-Civil War years to eat more turkey, and especially around Thanksgiving.

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Now, how true that is, I don't know.

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You might want to continue to do your research.

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Kind of makes sense Even back then.

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Right, you have folks that's producing and trying to make that money and so therefore they're going to push it and they pushed it in a specific time and especially aligning it with the holiday, and that makes sense to me.

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Again, I'm not sure that's factual or not.

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Turkey is sold throughout the year.

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Matter of fact, I get smoked turkey legs or, um, regular turkey legs all the time and may cook it for Sunday dinner and with some sides and so forth.

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So I'm not waiting until the fourth Thursday of November to have turkey.

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I just don't wait.

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Back to my childhood.

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I don't remember my mom cooking turkey any other time of the year.

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I don't remember her ever doing that.

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So it was more for a special occasion as well.

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Ladies, there you have it.

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So something that was established seems like ancient history and we're still going along with it, and I think we still should.

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Right, but I think we also should educate our children why we are celebrating Thanksgiving.

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What's the purpose?

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And then, after you educate them of how it originated, now you put the comma behind that and say every day is a day of Thanksgiving, every day is a day of being thankful.

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Teach your children how to thank you, single mom, because you are out there trying to do it on your own.

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My kids used to say thanks, mom, and I tell you what.

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That is the greatest feeling ever.

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You should teach your children.

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Things aren't being dropped into the house.

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You're having to get out there and make things happen.

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There's a lot of sacrifices that come with that.

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Yes, they didn't ask to be here, but by golly they are here.

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They should understand what some things take to run your household and for that they should be grateful.

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All right, ladies, I hope you enjoyed today's episode of Thanksgiving and I hope you have a fantastic holiday and don't eat too much.

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I'm not gonna lie.

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I'm gonna tear some stuff up.

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Gonna tear some stuff up.

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I'm ready.

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I'm ready for a good home-cooked meal.

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All right, ladies, you take care.

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Have a fabulous day, have a fabulous week, embrace your children and tell them you love them.

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Take care.