Oh here I go. It’s been awhile since I posted any content with real meat. And here it is. But let me start by saying I’m sure you can poke holes all through it. I’m sure I’ll ramble.  I’m sure some things you will agree with and some things you just won’t.  I’m sure it won’t be “clean” or “well-though-out” only because it’s been jumbled up in my mind all week but I’ve never had a chance to get it into words. And I’ll only have a few minutes until all three kids are begging for breakfast. But I have to get it out. I have to sit down and type. So it will be choppy and unedited. Forgive me…

Get over it. Please, please, please get over it already. Stores are going to be open today. If you choose to not shop…awesome. But quit filling my Facebook feed with boycotts. Facebook hasn’t been quite this annoying since Michael Jackson died. Get over it.

And here is why I beg you to just shut up. Because you are picking on one industry while many, many, many people have to work on Thanksgiving. And you are focusing only on one day and only from your perspective. Some working seems unavoidable today and (I agree) matters a tad bit more than others. Yes, we need hospitals to stay open. Yes, we need the police and fire departments ready for all those oven fires today. I get it. But until you are ready to boycott other not-so-important places/things that are open, get over it.

What annoys me is the fact that people see retailers as the devil. Does it suck that Great Aunt Mildred has to be at the jewelry counter earlier this year? Sure. Unless she’s secretly looking forward to escaping the family early and making extra holiday pay. I worked MANY crazy retail times. And not just Thanksgiving week. I’ve worked Christmas Day. More than once. So this isn’t just a rant from a stay-at-home-mom who doesn’t “work”.

People see things (I’m picking the two most popular) like football and movies as the best things. Ever. Um…those people also have families. And if your boycott argument stands…then I expect if you refuse to shop today…then you also REFUSE to turn on the TV to watch any football and you REFUSE to head to the movies on a very popular cinema day.  Right?

BUT! You scream. BUT! Those are TRADITIONS that I can enjoy WITH my family. And right there is where I say you are fickle. Shopping is TRADITION for so many friends and family. For many, it’s not about the deals. Heck, reporters have proven time and time again that the Thanksgiving and Black Friday sales are actually NOT the best holiday deals.

BUT! Shopping is consumerism at its worst and people just want, want, want and really need so much less. So…are you going to NOT shop the rest of the holiday season? Will you not be spending $60 for movie tickets for your family during this holiday season (because that’s what it will likely cost my family of 5 to see the latest hit “Frozen” without even adding any refreshments)? Or maybe some other holiday play, musical, etc.? Could that money not be put to better use? And you want to talk football? Do I even go there? We all sit around an overpriced/over-sized TV and watch overpaid men throw a ball around a field in a stadium serving overpriced food and drinks. Right? And all of those people (the players, the coaches, the vendors AND the spectators) have families they should be with on Thanksgiving. In your opinion.

I just hate when people get so hung up about a day.  And if you are so furious with the likes of Kmart and Target and wherever else TODAY…will you be boycotting them the entire holiday season? I thought not. Ok, it is Thanksgiving DAY.  I understand that. But focus more on your family and the time you CAN be together. That’s what I think we lack as a society. We get so caught up in the DAY that we overlook the important part of creating memories with our families. Does it really matter that those experiences happened on the 4th Thursday of November?  Not in my house. There have been so many years we celebrated Thanksgiving on Friday or Saturday…because that was when we could all be together.

And how will you spend this time with your family for Thanksgiving? No matter when you celebrate it? I’ve been at way too many family functions where no one really talks to each other. Is that what we are protecting by not working today? How many of you will sit on a couch, watch football, and barely interact with your own family? How many of you will interact more with your iPhone or device than the humans in the room?

I know I could do better. There will be almost 40 people at my Thanksgiving dinner later today. All relatives. All local. And yet I don’t really KNOW all of them. Our lives are busy, our neighborhoods on different sides of town, our stages of life don’t coincide. But those are just excuses and I can do better. So that’s my focus this year. Yes, we will be watching football and posting pictures to Instagram and some will leave to shop. But while we are together, I’m going to do better. Make the time we are together more meaningful and less “just-being-there”.

Happy Thanksgiving!

How will you spend your day?