What I Gave Thanks For

First of all, I hope everyone out there had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Now let me get around to the important part of telling you about mine.


I was able to enjoy the most important aspect of Thanksgiving: food.  Way too much of it.


I was also able to enjoy another important aspect of Thanksgiving: family.  Waaaaay too much of it.


Separate parts of the day were dedicated to my side and my wife's side of our extended family.  Sitting in the company of loved ones, sharing stories, laughing together, eating, eating, eating and eating helped me realize, through a calorie overload haze, that I have so much for which to be thankful.  Many people do not live near their families or do not have family members they would even like to spend time with.  I am fortunate enough to have two groups of them to put on an impressive face-stuffing display in front of who also happen to be pleasant and loving enough for me not to be driven absolutely crazy by them....most of the time (love you guys).


But for all the blessings of family and calories surrounding me on the holiday, the thing I was most thankful for happened late that evening.


My wife had spent the entire day cleaning and cooking in preparation of her family's arrival at our home.  Thus, I volunteered to perform most of the cleaning up afterward as she finally got a chance to relax.  As I shlepped dishes and discarded, half-eaten foodstuffs back and forth from the dining room table and the kitchen sink, I was pleasantly surprised by an offer form my sons.


"Can we help you and bring stuff from the table, dad?" the offered.


Pride swelled inside me (or maybe that was the massive portions of stuffing finally hitting my lower intestine) and tears welled in my eyes.  My sons were being so thoughtful.  They were becoming so grown up.  I accepted their help and they did a seriously fantastic job of clearing the table and saving me a large amount of time (though not nearly as large as the amount of stuffing I ate).


It was quite possibly the best way I could ever have thought of to end a Thanksgiving.


That is until I found out that they were simply performing a chore in order to earn "mom bucks" from my wife.  I was no longer proud of their thoughtfulness.  Instead, I was proud of their financial savvy.  Especially in light of the upcoming shopping season.