Thursday, November 14, 2013

Thanksgiving is NOT the "Middle Child of Holidays!"

          I can always tell when Thanksgiving is approaching because people are dusting off their “Thanksgiving is the Middle Child of holidays” and “Thanksgiving suffers from severe Middle Child Syndrome” tweets. When I saw these messages popping up last year, I wrote a post about it that contained links to several articles detailing why the authors believed Thanksgiving is overlooked, forgotten, and overshadowed by Halloween before it and Christmas after it. I didn’t think much about it at the time, but I’ve given it much thought over the past year and have come to the conclusion that these people are  friggin’ nuts!  While these Thanksgiving thoughts certainly aren’t the first Middle Child metaphors I’ve ever heard, they might be the most egregious. (For a list of more, read “The Metaphorical Middle Child.”)
          Forgotten?  Overlooked? Are you kidding me!? People love Thanksgiving.  Some people look forward to their Thanksgiving dinner the entire year.  I mean, what’s not to love about Thanksgiving? There’s food, football, and lots of pie. In fact, I would argue that Thanksgiving is more than loved – it’s BEloved. (Ask a Middle Child how loved they feel.  Go ahead, I dare you. I’d be happy if I felt liked!)