Thanksgiving or Christmas??  

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I was asked recently which I prefer Thanksgiving or Christmas. My immediate thought was CHRISTMAS!!!! You get gifts and a couple days off, everybody gets together from out of town. I get to see relatives I haven't seen in a year and it's just a big sense of family. Well at least with our family that is how Christmas is.

Then I stopped and thought about it a little bit closer. Thanksgiving is a freebie Holiday. There are no expectations. You don't have to find a ultra cool gift for that 8 year old you only see once a year. You don't have to deplete your bank account for the gift that mom and dad only put out if they think you will see it.(They already have just about anything they want.) Around here we get Thursday and Friday off, so that makes for a great 4 day weekend. Top it off with FOOTBALL!!!!

The only drain on me for Thanksgiving is possibly my house is a little messy and I over eat (like that doesn't happen on every thursday). I get to go play football in the front yard with my cousins and the neighborhood kids, and we get to relive a little slice of our youth. Yeah you know back when knees worked and backs didn't hurt and don't forget that nagging pain in the shoulder. Of course the downside to all of that is Friday, but hey it's a day off so I can recover on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday if need be.

On Christmas I have to spend more money in one month than I make in 5. I am generally wrong on at least half of the presents I buy for family and friends (guess I'm not a good judge of what other people like). I still have to clean up the house after it's all over. The difference being on Chrstmas I have to clean up gift wrap as well as dishes.

So I changed my answer and told my friend that I prefer Thanksgiving over Christmas. I then proceeded to explain the pros and cons as I saw them. It took my buddy about 5 minutes to think through everything I said before his response.

He told me that I had it all wrong. Christmas isn't about presents. He explained to me what Christmas is truly about (like I didn't grow up in a Catholic house). I let him ramble on for about 20 minutes before I stopped him and asked how much money he spent on Christmas even though it's not about the presents. He has 3 children ranging in age from 4-10. Well he wouldn't tell me, but told me that it was over $1000. WOW!!!! Little kid presents shouldn't cost that much first of all.

So we argued the merits of his statements about Christmas compared to mine. The argument got a bit heated and I guess we raised our voices a little bit more than we realized. A gal (sorry I still use the word gal) who works at the office popped her head in the door and told us we were foolish. We were told that regardless of all of that Memorial Day was the best holiday. She then explained the whole 3 day weekend thing, how everything is on sale. You have good weather (here it's good weather in may) to go and do something as a family or with that special someone. Pretty soon, there was another head popped in the door, offering another Holiday. The argument faded into a laughing debate about Holidays and Birthdays and if your birthday should be considered a Holiday. We finally got the withering stare from the boss which was a signal to get our keesters back to the daily grind of well whatever we were doing at the time.

So now I'm faced with a dilema. Which is the best Holiday? So offer up your choice and give me a reason why you think it ranks as the best. I need some heavy ammunition for Monday when I get back that way and can finish this debate.

This entry was posted at Wednesday, November 04, 2009 and is filed under , , , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments feed .

14 comments

Anonymous  

Bendigo, I would have to say the best Holiday from a religious perspective is Easter because that's when Jesus rose from the dead and conquered sin (which then gives us eternal life in Heaven). However, all holidays seems to be such an overkill anymore from an entirely different perspective.

At this point I love the holidays because I get to see my children, and that would mean I see them longer at Christmas!

So I declare my favorite holiday as Christmas. I'm glad you asked because I just came to that conclusion!

November 4, 2009 at 2:51 PM
Me  

Christmas and New Year are really my favorite! I love the traditions, the music, the sense of joy, the snow, the food...it's kind of magical.

And I love the hype in December, the sense of eagerness for the holidays and Christmas to arrive!

Sarah

November 4, 2009 at 4:26 PM
Anonymous  

...and you realize, of course, that from a financial perspective, Christmas would be my least favorite! This year is just going to have to be different! I think I've heard myself say that before (humbug)

November 4, 2009 at 7:11 PM
Bendigo  

Funny you brought up the financial aspect. Every year we are broke before christmas. Yet somehow something comes up that allows us enough money to get a few presents for the kids and something for our parents. This will be the first year in about 15 that we haven't had to worry about the money side of things and I have to say it's a nice change...

November 4, 2009 at 9:25 PM
Desertson  

Thanksgiving by miles! Every year we have a huge thanksgiving celebration. Friends a family come from all over. I enjoy it much more than Christmas.

November 5, 2009 at 7:40 AM
Ian  

When you are a kid all the way through your married life without kids chances are you will say Xmas. If you are married and have kids, and are lucky enough to be in the upper crust of society and afford the expensive gifts (not I), then you might say Xmas.

I say Thanksgiving for if no other reason it's because nothing is expected out of you aside from maybe putting on a meal. We celebrate Hanukkah and Xmas in our house so we get double celebration. But Thanksgiving still beats them both out combined. I'm on the east coast and there's nothing like the fall weather, playing football with friends after watching the Macys Thanksgiving Day parade, then enjoying an early dinner with family and friends.

There's just simply nothing like it. That and not everybody celebrates xmas in the states. More people celebrate Thanksgiving and it formally ushers in the holiday season.

THANKSGIVING FTW! :)

November 5, 2009 at 8:51 AM
Anonymous  

I guess I'm stalking this post now, Bendigo. Another problem with both Thanksgiving and Christmas is the early advertising and promotion. I went into Target today. Halloween decor is clearance (candy 50% off) and Christmas ornaments are hanging from the ceiling. Sometimes by the time Christmas gets here, I'm really sick of it!

November 5, 2009 at 9:26 PM
Bendigo  

Jan....I totally agree with you. By the time Christmas finally gets here it's been soooo shoved down my throat on TV, Radio, Store Advertisements, and those 120lb santa's hanging out on the corner. I'm just ready for the new year...My kids still love the season, and I guess there are some things I love about it....But it seems to be harder and harder to find the good stuff in it ...

November 5, 2009 at 11:25 PM
plainolebob  

Bedigo, please accept the "hot dawg blogger" award today.
thanks Bob

November 6, 2009 at 7:57 AM
Ian  

@ Jan @ bobbypinsboardwalk - you're crazy, right? They started putting up xmas decorations in the local mall the last week in August near me. AUGUST!!!! lol

November 6, 2009 at 12:44 PM
Bendigo  

Well thanks much Bob, I surely appreciate it...

Jan OMG are you serious August?!? that is just not right

November 6, 2009 at 6:10 PM
Kristy  

I vote for Christmas, not because of the gifts (which is a lot of pressure), but because of the decorations and the music and the movies and the sense of family.

I also love Halloween though, because we get to dress up and be silly.

I laughed when you said that bit about backs and knees... my knees are giving me problems and I'm only 36 -- I had to wear one of those velcro knee thingys on my trip. I felt old...

November 7, 2009 at 9:32 AM
I Wonder Wye  

Not for nothing, here are my two cents -- Thanksgiving for women are rather difficult - we love the tradition of the Macy's parade and having the family and friends gather, but, we also clean, shop, and cook and bake our kiesters off...Christmas has a lot to commend it, and as 'Jan' says it's a high holy time and spiritual and a way of showing loved ones you care and it is magical -- but we are still working hard to make that magic -- the cards to write and address and mail, the presents to plan for and buy and wrap, the decorations to get up, the tree to trim, not to mention the holiday baking and meal to make....I am beginning to hyperventilate as I type...so I say, Halloween. Yes you still put up decorations and put together a costume and all, put it's as easy or complicated as you want to make it, it involves partying and being silly, and there are fewer expectations.......

November 7, 2009 at 8:57 PM
Ian  

Congrats and good luck. This post has been nominated for Post of the Year!

http://thedailydoseofreality.blogspot.com/2009/12/complete-first-annual-ddor-year-end.html

December 22, 2009 at 12:34 PM

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