What happened to Thanksgiving?

I was in my local Walmart this past Saturday, and I couldn't believe it. They had their Christmas stuff going up! I mean, it's barely November, and we're beating the Christmas horse to death already?

I understand that Walmart is all about making money. And I understand that Christmas is the money-making holiday for most stores. But I really find it all pretty disturbing.

There's one thing I find especially disturbing: did we forget that there's a holiday between Halloween and Christmas? Last I checked, Thanksgiving was in there somewhere. But there was no sign of Thanksgiving in the store. I'm assuming that they just wanted to make room for more Christmas stuff, and that they'll put more Thanksgiving things up as we get closer to the holiday.

But something tells me there is more at work than just maximizing profit. I think Thanksgiving is slipping a bit in popularity and importance. We're not a very thankful society. That's odd, because we are in the most materially rich country that's ever existed. Yet we're less happy and thankful than ever.

Maybe we're just accustomed to having what we want, and we think we deserve to get whatever we want. When you live expecting things to be given to you, you lose the idea what you get is a gift. That makes you less thankful I think.

That also makes me wonder about whether I'm raising my children to be thankful. I've got to think more about this...

(In case you're wondering, the post has nothing to do with the picture. I included the picture because Michelle wants to see more pics of the kids. Always happy to oblige...)