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!)
Another great thing about Thanksgiving is that it doesn’t move around like a lot of other holidays. You always know when it will be – the last Thursday in November. Friends and family always remember it -- which is more than they can say about my birthday. (Did your brother ever call to say he was sorry he forgot it was Thanksgiving? I don’t think so.) And since it’s always on a Thursday, it always comes with a four day weekend. Even July 4th  --  America’s birthday, for cryin’ out loud --  doesn’t get that honor. Neither does Christmas, for Christ’s sake. Retailers have huge Thanksgiving sales – no one’s offering me 40% off just because I have older and younger siblings. Thanksgiving is such a big deal, there’s even a Canadian version! Yeah, poor Thanksgiving. It’s soooo unappreciated, it gets parades in various major cities across the country every year.  Heck, I’d be thrilled if someone just asked me to go to a parade. 
          The fact of the matter is, Thanksgiving couldn’t be any further from being a Middle Child. But all the metaphorical mishegas aside, there’s a much bigger issue at hand. I made this point last year, but apparently no one was listening – big surprise – so I’ll make it again. I can’t help but appreciate the irony of people going out of their way to find a holiday they can call the “Middle Child of holidays,” when there already is an undisputed "Middle Child of holidays." If you’re looking for a holiday that is truly overlooked, unappreciated and forgotten, it’s August 12th -- Middle Child’s Day! Not Thanksgiving. Even the day after Thanksgiving, “Black Friday,” gets more attention than Middle Child’s Day. So I don’t want to hear anymore about Thanksgiving being the “Middle Child of holidays.” Now pass me some Turkey.

2 comments:

  1. I feel that I am the POSTER CHILD for middle children! I was BORN on August 12th, by the was............in (pretty much) the middle of the century too. I had a sister and a brother older, a sister and a brother younger, Two have passed away...........one older, one younger. One sister, one brother, so I am STILL in the middle. I agree with you, 100%..............I guess Veteran's Day could use a little more respect and notice, some of those people gave their lives, for the cause, and it's between Halloween and Thanksgiving, without a lot of fanfare. Amusing piece, I enjoyed it.

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  2. I suppose I try to ignore my middle-childness and do what ever I can to live life like a first-born. I find ways to push thoughts of how demanding life was/is as a middle child far away into the dark depths of my mind. But every now and then it is blatantly thrown in my face and I have to face facts. A few days before Halloween, I run into a person I knew years ago (whom I never saw without my siblings-one older, one younger) and I say hi... nothing..she has no idea who I am. So, I mention my last name and if that sounds familiar. She says "Oh yeah! I know (insert my sisters name) and (insert my brothers name). She had no idea that I even existed. Awesome. Fast forward to Halloween, as my husband and only child and I are leaving the house to get some awesome candy, my brother and sister pull up with all their multiple children and tell us of their plans to go trick or treating together. No, they didn't ask us if we wanted to go with. Reset the counter. 0 days since the last acknowledgement. :D

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Middle Children need to be heard!