Mom’s bustling in the kitchen preparing the turkey, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie. Dad’s lounging and playing in the living room with the children, savoring the smells drifting from the kitchen. Thanksgiving Day is a holiday meal most families will eat together at home.

This American holiday, Thanksgiving Day, has been celebrated since the pilgrims and Native Americans in 1621 (in Plymouth, Massachusetts) first set aside an occasion to thank God for their plentiful harvest. The pilgrims decreed a holiday, based on their good fortune, in which “all might after a more special manner, rejoice together.” This tribute and thanks lasted three days, with many festivities taking place.

In 1893, President Lincoln issued a proclamation calling on the “whole American people” wherever they lived to unite “with one heart and one voice” in observing the special day of Thanksgiving. President Lincoln wanted people to express heartfelt thanks for a “blessing of fruitful fields and healthful skies.”

The theme has basically been unchanged — the day was to be filled with reflections on tranquility, peace and plenty, health and happiness; for remembering and appreciating the special people in our lives. It’s also been a time for special giving in remembering and helping the less fortunate.

Each family adds a special touch to their holiday. Thanksgiving Day is the time to create solid traditions within your family. This is when individuals and families celebrate all things great in their lives. It’s a time for good food, good fun, parades and serious reflection. In this ever-busy life that we each live, this day is the time to give gratitude for what we have, for who we are — for being Americans.

Please read this Thanksgiving Prayer to your children this year:

We come to this table today, O Lord, humble and thankful and glad.

We thank thee first for the great miracle of life, for the exaltation of being human, for the capacity of love.

We thank Thee for joys both great and simple —

For wonder, dreams and hope;

For laughter and song and a merry heart;

For compassion waiting within to be kindled:

For the forbearance of friends and the smile of a stranger;

For the arching of the earth and trees and heavens and the fruit of all three;

For the wisdom of the old;

For the courage of the young;

For the promise of the child;

For the strength that comes when needed;

For this family united here today.

Of those to whom much is given, much is required.

May we and our children remember this.

— Author unknown

Linda Milo is “The Parent-Child Connection Coach.” For more information, visit www.empoweringparentsnow.com. To book a free parent coaching session, write linda@empoweringparentsnow.com.