Spirit of Thanksgiving

In the spirit of the season (and responding to a need at the church) we took the kids out shopping for Thanksgiving foodstuffs to support those less fortunate than ourselves. The thought behind this was that we can take the kids to the store, buy the food and then drop it off all while teaching them about Thanksgiving and why it is so important to celebrate it. Suffice to say that the trip didn't go exactly as planned but more on that in a moment.

Thanksgiving is the quintessential American holiday. It celebrates our oneness as Americans. National holidays often celebrate a certain segment of society, July 4th (although a great day to get together and BBQ) somehow lacks the feeling of togetherness embodied by "The Holidays", New Years is celebrated by almost every society on Earth, and Christmas/Easter/ Hanukkah/Yom Kippur/Rosh Hashana/Ramadan et al. are religious holidays. Thanksgiving is a time for all Americans (white, black, brown, Christian, Jew Muslim) to remember what makes this country great and what sets us apart from the rest of the world; namely our generosity, hospitality, abundance and freedoms of all types. We celebrate what it is that makes the USA the most sought after residence and the envy of the world.

So it is in that spirit that we hopped in the car and made our way down to the local Wal-Mart (which thankfully had endcap displays for all that we needed). In the car on the way we explained that we weren't shopping for ourselves but rather for those who have less than we do. Antonio noted that we should get him some toys since we were going to Wal-Mart. Specifically he wanted 5 guns and 2 swords (I honestly have no idea where he gets this stuff). We calmly explained to him that he could ask Santa Claus for those things (which we totally have no intentions of getting for him) and that tonight would not be time for that. He was adamant that we would buy him toys so Misty and I decided to drop it.

As we arrived at Wal-Mart both boys are instructed to sit in the shopping cart as we planned to make this trip as quickly as possible. Nothing is worse than children running in opposite directions at any store let alone one as big as Wal-Mart. 20 seconds through the front door we arrive at the yam endcap and no sooner did we arrive then the two boys begin fighting with one another. Again we calmly explained why we were shopping and that they should be gracious givers. That went over their little heads faster than talk of Keynesian Economic Theory. I got the deer in headlights stare for about 5 seconds and then they went back to bickering. We saw that this was quickly snowballing into a full-blown tantrum so we hurriedly shoveled cans of yams into the cart along with all other foodstuffs and proceeded to the check out lane.

Enter a new highlight of the evening: the impulse section next to the cash register. The kids start the mad grab for anything within reach suddenly the cart begins to fill up with candy bars and beef jerky. Daddy has had it at this point, and although the Almond Joy was calling my name I decided to eschew the candy bar in favor of expediting our checkout. Children screaming and arguing, on the verge of yam can throwing we finally exit Wal-Mart lucky to escape with our sanity. We then proceed to the church to drop off the goods. Now ensues the argument about who carries what bag. Feeling like total parental failures we drop off the food, dejectedly return to the car and drive home. My only solace is that gin martinis cure all ills at the end of a long day.

Happy Thanksgiving!