Thanksgiving Day is typically an American holiday. Thanksgiving Day is traditionally a day for families and friends to get together for a special meal. The meal often includes turkey, stuffing, potatoes, cranberry sauce, gravy, pumpkin pie, and vegetables. Thanksgiving Day is a time for many people to give thanks for what they have.

Without a doubt, family is my biggest reason for giving thanks. In fact I will even go as far as saying it is THE biggest reason to give thanks ever.

Have you ever just sat to think about typical family experiences? All the laughs and tears can take place in one setting. It is an amazing journey of learning and adventure- and naturally all these shared experiences help to build strong bonds within the family.

Family members, as long as they are in human form, will always experience emotions on all levels. Emotions may range from feeling great and elated, the complete opposite or a whole range of emotions in between. 

The parent’s role is to be there or be available for their children when they experience various feelings and emotions to guide them through it all. This is no easy challenge.Later in life, when they need to deal with those strong emotions or even breakdowns they will have the self control and emotional maturity to come out fine or seek help where it is needed.

But in childhood, it is preferable that a child learns to deal with feelings and emotions in a consistent, peaceful, and loving environment.

This ideal environment is the family. You see, our walk as parents is not easy. Relationships are not easy. Family relationships need to be tolerated because they all face hardships, even more than friendship and relationships because they interact in a closer way.

On the plus side, family relationships have more positives to focus on than friendships because they have been through a lot more than friends.

Usually, family have known each other longer, enjoyed each others’ company for longer periods and therefore tend to understand each other better than you would expect a stranger to. Naturally there are exceptional cases but generally speaking, family is who you expect to always cheer you on and back you up no matter what. 

Family is a constant challenge but one we should be thankful for on all or any level. However, we should also learn to celebrate each moment with a thankful heart. A challenge remains a challenge until we learn to look on the brighter side and approach it with a heart filled with gratitude for the blessings we have enjoyed.

The challenges then seem to transform into valuable lessons and tots of wisdom, which in turn make it much easier to deal with.

Family relationships, I would say, are the very core of relationships and will probably determine what kind of relationships children will have as adults.

Family is what turns a mere house into that magical place called HOME.

I could talk about so many precious family traditions that bring a family closer together to enjoy the many blessings our children bring- but that’s another article for another time.