Comments on: Gratitude is Real. Fable is Still Fable. Truth is Love. Set the Table. http://theunapologeticmexican.org/elmachete/2009/11/25/gratitude-is-real-fable-is-still-fable-truth-is-love-set-the-table/ Where Manifest Destiny Goes to Die Thu, 18 Mar 2010 18:06:41 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: nezua http://theunapologeticmexican.org/elmachete/2009/11/25/gratitude-is-real-fable-is-still-fable-truth-is-love-set-the-table/comment-page-1/#comment-5173 nezua Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:14:52 +0000 http://theunapologeticmexican.org/elmachete/?p=6153#comment-5173 Thanks for your experience, Arban. I agree...in stages. When they are ready for it. I think children need to realistically see the world, but we don't want to instill harm, fear, trauma, or things they are not able to mentally integrate. And like I said, I'm always down with festivities and love and food. To me, that's much of what being alive is about. Thanks again for speaking about what this day has mean to you and how you approach it. Thanks for your experience, Arban.

I agree…in stages. When they are ready for it. I think children need to realistically see the world, but we don’t want to instill harm, fear, trauma, or things they are not able to mentally integrate.

And like I said, I’m always down with festivities and love and food. To me, that’s much of what being alive is about.

Thanks again for speaking about what this day has mean to you and how you approach it.

]]> By: Arban http://theunapologeticmexican.org/elmachete/2009/11/25/gratitude-is-real-fable-is-still-fable-truth-is-love-set-the-table/comment-page-1/#comment-5171 Arban Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:43:20 +0000 http://theunapologeticmexican.org/elmachete/?p=6153#comment-5171 Thanksgiving has always been one of my favourite holidays, but not because I bought the fable, but because I liked the concept of giving thanks, or a day just to think about what we are grateful for. I liked the fact that it was a big holiday where we got off school, but it was still relaxed, not as hectic as Christmas...and of course THE FOOD, Thanksgiving dinner has always been one of my favourite meals. I love it so much that I have even fantasized about opening a restaurant called "The Thanksgiving House" where that is all that is on the menu :) It is not a holiday that the Mexican side of my family often made a big deal out of, but a day usually spent at my maternal grandmother's house, with various family members from that side of my family dropping by to stay awhile, chat, have a slice of pumpkin or pecan pie and inevitably wind up telling family stories that I enjoyed listening in on. As I got older, and more aware of some of the controversy surrounding the holiday, I had to question whether or not I wanted to continue this tradition. I decided that all the above was enough reason to do so, and I justified this by adding the concept that Thanksgiving, at its heart, is an Autumn harvest festival, which surely, all of our ancestors in agricultural societies would have celebrated some form of. . Having said all that, this year I am not celebrating Thanksgiving. This has happened to me a few times since living in the UK. It creeps up on me over here, with no reminders, it often falls during a busy time...and this year, I was meant to be doing a barbacoa turkey in my Tio Ricardo's back yard in San Antonio, but we had to cancel our trip to the States this month due to illness. Anyway, because we are unique, in that we are living in the United Kingdom, and most of the time, I do make Thanksgiving dinner, my son does not get any sort of indoctrination at school, the explanation of the holiday is entirely down to me. He is only 6 1/2, so I have always just explained it to him as an Autumn festival where people give thanks for the harvest and everything else in their lives...I tell him that most of the dishes are based on foods that are native to the Americas, like corn, pumpkin and cranberries. This is easy for him to see because these foods are rare and hard to find here for the meal. In the last year, he has started to ask questions about WW2, the concept of slavery and how European settlers got to America. I talk to him in simple terms and try to not give him stuff that's too emotionally heavy for him to handle at this age, but I know a serious conversation about genocide is right around the corner... Thanksgiving has always been one of my favourite holidays, but not because I bought the fable, but because I liked the concept of giving thanks, or a day just to think about what we are grateful for. I liked the fact that it was a big holiday where we got off school, but it was still relaxed, not as hectic as Christmas…and of course THE FOOD, Thanksgiving dinner has always been one of my favourite meals. I love it so much that I have even fantasized about opening a restaurant called “The Thanksgiving House” where that is all that is on the menu :) It is not a holiday that the Mexican side of my family often made a big deal out of, but a day usually spent at my maternal grandmother’s house, with various family members from that side of my family dropping by to stay awhile, chat, have a slice of pumpkin or pecan pie and inevitably wind up telling family stories that I enjoyed listening in on.
As I got older, and more aware of some of the controversy surrounding the holiday, I had to question whether or not I wanted to continue this tradition. I decided that all the above was enough reason to do so, and I justified this by adding the concept that Thanksgiving, at its heart, is an Autumn harvest festival, which surely, all of our ancestors in agricultural societies would have celebrated some form of. .
Having said all that, this year I am not celebrating Thanksgiving. This has happened to me a few times since living in the UK. It creeps up on me over here, with no reminders, it often falls during a busy time…and this year, I was meant to be doing a barbacoa turkey in my Tio Ricardo’s back yard in San Antonio, but we had to cancel our trip to the States this month due to illness. Anyway, because we are unique, in that we are living in the United Kingdom, and most of the time, I do make Thanksgiving dinner, my son does not get any sort of indoctrination at school, the explanation of the holiday is entirely down to me. He is only 6 1/2, so I have always just explained it to him as an Autumn festival where people give thanks for the harvest and everything else in their lives…I tell him that most of the dishes are based on foods that are native to the Americas, like corn, pumpkin and cranberries. This is easy for him to see because these foods are rare and hard to find here for the meal. In the last year, he has started to ask questions about WW2, the concept of slavery and how European settlers got to America. I talk to him in simple terms and try to not give him stuff that’s too emotionally heavy for him to handle at this age, but I know a serious conversation about genocide is right around the corner…

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