By: Katherine Doble-Cannata
As kids, my brother, sister and I dreaded the beginning of Thanksgiving dinner, all because of the small glass of thick, red vegetable juice expectantly perched at each of our place settings. Each year we were cruelly expected to drink it all (by Mami) before diving into the mashed potatoes and stuffing, whining and complaining through each sip
That is, until I reached Kindergarten. That year I remember being shocked when I learned that V8 wasn’t part of a “normal” Thanksgiving menu. How could the Pilgrims not have had cans of vegetable juice? When I eagerly questioned the tradition, I discovered that no one knew when or how it came to be in our family: it just was. And so the pre-Thanksgiving meal mandate continued until my usually non-rebellious sister put her foot down at age 8, at which point it became optional and eventually dropped off the menu completely.
Now, years later…I miss it.
Call it nostalgia—a desire to return to my youth or homage to the older generation that has now passed—but this year vegetable juice is back on the menu. Of course my kids are going to put up a fight. I can already hear my Tween daughter complaining. But one day she just might miss that glass of V8 and recall with fondness those memories of collective whining with her siblings. And so, for better or for worse, the vegetable juice tradition returns to our family.
When it comes to testy tweens- should we push our past traditions like this or should we allow them to create new ones? Share your ideas!
As a mother of twin tweens in 2011 and an active Girl Scout Troop leader, Cristy realized there was a need to develop bilingual digital content and foster a community facing the challenges of raising kids after first grade. That year she founded and remains co-Publisher of Los Tweens & Teens, to support multicultural parents and mentors with content related to raising Gen Z- tweens & teens ages 7-18. Through the Los Tweens & Teens LIVE events such as Teens & Me – the growing team aims to provide our community with essential resources from chats with therapists to battle anxiety and bullying, to understanding social media and technology.