There are so many traditions and customs that trickle up from the United States into Canada. Perhaps Drinksgiving should be one of them?

Yes, fellow Canadians, Drinksgiving is an actual thing. According to Urban Dictionary.com, Drinksgiving is “the day and night before actual Thanksgiving where you drink and have fun with your friends because you’ll have to endure family the whole next day.” Wow...…..just wow! Perhaps that statement is why the day is also referred to as Blackout Wednesday!

Logically speaking how would a binge night, right before Thanksgiving, really work out for you? Thanksgiving dinner would certainly serve as the world’s greatest hangover meal but imagine the whole day before dinner. If the objective was to endure annoying or less than amicable family members, you’ve basically shot yourself in the foot. A hangover would only make them infinitely more annoying. Loud aunt Betty would become exponentially louder. That niece or nephew you have no problem seeing only once per year, if that, will have you wishing that you were anywhere but with them. The overbearing father or mother who apparently have no problem listing all of your faults and make you feel like you will never measure up? The dysfunctional cousin who tries to “one-up” you on everything? Would you really be able to deal with that hungover? We don’t think so!

So let us unpack this in the spirit of the Gift Designers. Fostering relationships is at the core of who we are so perhaps sharing a few drinks would not be encouraged as a means of endurance but rather as a means to enhance the experience. Picture this: the night before Thanksgiving, all the adult brothers, sisters, and cousins in the kitchen, prepping items for the big dinner whilst sipping on holiday wines and brews. All laughing over childhood memories, growing up in a time where we played outside until the streetlights came on. And then there are the parents who have become grandparents, great aunts and great uncles marveling at the men and women that their children have become. Drinking warm or hot cider while laughing at the memories of how the kids used to get in trouble, scraped knees, report cards,  first crushes, and first heartbreaks; anticipating with excitement, the opportunity to play with grandchildren.

The implication of Drinksgiving is to drink, laugh and have a good time with friends and loved ones. Get loose, let your hair down. So why not make it a family affair? Why not use the opportunity to create a momentous occasion that you look forward to every year with good drinks, snacks, sharing and laughing? A family member annoys you? Take a sip, chuckle, and carry on with the evening!

*at TGD we encourage our community to drink responsibly*