So let’s be honest this year has been a crapshoot. This time of year will be hard on families especially for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.
Thanksgiving is a holiday of giving thanks for all that you have, spending time with loved ones, and of course, eating. Some of us watch football, some start shopping the night before Black Friday, others pass out in a turkey coma.
I usually only get homesick, for Maine, this time of year. This year has been difficult for us personally because no family member has had the opportunity to meet, in person, our youngest daughter. We had hoped all year long that by the holidays we would have the chance to get together with her parents or mine but alas this will not be the case.
I have found that the more kids we have the more important family is to me. I want my kids to see how holidays are more about family, sharing, and just enjoying being together and less about presents, time off from school, and TV.
When I get old, I want to be that old man surrounded by my kids, and playing with my grandkids every chance I get.
What are we to do this year then? How can we make family still the number one priority when we can’t all be together? How can we show our kids that we don’t let anything take away from spending time together as a family?
Virtual Dinner
I think this is going to be the go to for most everyone this year.
Each family makes their meal at their house and FaceTimes one another as you eat during the holiday meal.
I’ve used Zoom many times for work and my daughter’s school. Zoom’s not too bad if you have fast internet. However, if your internet is spotty which is likely in some small towns across the US then it can be glitchy.
We usually have issues using Facebook videos with my family because, like with Zoom, they live in a small town with poor internet services.
I by no means am an expert in this matter. I did find a good article on GQindia.com that does a good job explaining what they believe are the 7 top video calling apps besides Zoom.
Recipe Swap
Share your traditional recipes so everyone can still taste your dish, even if they have to cook it themselves. Just make sure that not everyone chooses the same dish like stuffing or you end up with 3 stuffings and no sweet potato pie. Though I might not complain about 3 different stuffings, I love stuffing.
If you and your family find this fun and want to keep this as a tradition that’s even better. Make it so every year you all switch it up and have to cook something new.
Outdoor Party
One of the most popular ways people are planning to celebrate the holiday this year is by moving the celebration outdoors. Thus allowing for the required social distancing but allowing us to be together at the same time. This is a great opportunity to discover new ways of cooking the thanksgiving meals. If you’ve been wanting to deep fry your bird this is the prime year to do it. If you are doing to do this I’d suggest everyone try and make sure they keep clear from other people not attending the party before hand and everyone checks their temp before leaving home. Also try to keep the 6ft distance and wear a mask.
If you can’t do an outdoor party, as some can’t due to weather, and insist on doing an indoor party or you have kids coming home from college have everyone tested before coming over to assure that no one is positive for Covid-19.
As a Note they have recently said to avoid any get togethers this holiday season so if you decide to move forward with it do so safely.
Thankful For…
This can be done in a few ways. At the beginning of dinner, everyone says what they are thankful for with pictures, words, or drawings. Another way is everyone places in a bucket what they are thankful for and someone else draws it from the bucket and reads it.
Better yet, the person with the most creative way of showing what they are thankful for wins a prize. For instance, if you can explain what you are thankful for in your mash potatoes you win.
Decorate Your Tree
Some people put their Christmas tree up the night of thanksgiving. If that’s you or even if you decide to do it another night, plan it so each family does it virtually at the same time and share stories, what the special ornament means, and if you can stream it through the TV for a bigger picture it’ll be even better. If you can record it, do it! You will enjoy having this later in life to look back at of your kids and your parents.
Double Down On Decor
This year we are planning to do a ton more decor around the house than we ever have. We have 5 display areas one on the Tv stand, one on a 6 cubby bookshelf, and one on the counter in the kitchen, our headboard in the bedroom, and lastly one in the bathroom. We also have the fire mantle where we put small items and large paintings and signs. Plus, all the other little things we are doing like holiday hand soaps, incense, hand towels, holiday drinks, pillows, and blankets. Heck my wife even wrapped my stereo speakers, that are set near the Tv stand decor, to make them look like Christmas presents so they are not an eye sore.
Fun With The Kids
Employ Little People Help In The Kitchen
No, I don’t mean elves, let your kids help you in the kitchen. I say this almost every post. It’s so much fun for them and the more you do it with them the more you get used to it and will enjoy it yourself.
Pin the Tail on the Turkey
This is super simple just make a simple Turkey out of construction paper add some eyes and legs and cut multiple feathers out and have the kids go at it with blindfolds. You can switch it up and have each one get closest to a perfect plume of feathers doing it blindfolded as well.
Shake Your Tail Feathers
This one is hilarious. Get a small box with a hole in it (like a tissue box), decorate the outside with craft paper, fill it with feathers, secure it to someones backside and start the timer. The goal is to see, without using their hands, how long it takes to “Shake your tail” to get all the feathers out.
Turkey Hunt
As we all know, kids need distractions during. Well, all the time. So, when you can distract them do it. For this, you can do a simple scavenger hunt where you send the kids either outside or around the house to find 10 Turkey day related items like mini pumpkins. Have some prizes or special deserts for those who complete the hunt.
Turkey Tag
This takes me back to the days of “kick Me” signs on the back of your friends. Decorate a clothespin to have a turkey look to it. The goal is to clip it to an unsuspecting family member without getting caught. Once your victim is successfully clipped and when they realize it they must gobble and flap their arms like a turkey and now it’s up to them to find a new victim. This can be a riot when from another room you hear a family member gobbling. To add a little hussle to it you can add the little stipulation that the first person to tag the gobbler is safe for the next round.
Pilgrim And Indian Headwear
I know this isn’t PC anymore but it’s one of those things that I did when I was little and something I plan to do with my family. Just some feathers, construction paper, and some glue.
Turkey Cookie Decorating
I love making cookies and decorating them with my kids. You can get a Turkey cookie-cutter profile and cover the whole cookie with colored icing or jut make it easy and decorate a round cookie with candy eyes, icing for the beak and gizzard, and candy corn for feathers.
Turkey Feathers
On this one, you cut feathers out of multi-colored construction paper. And have them glue them to a turkey body that has been cut out of paper as well with little google eyes on them.
Next Year
Make it a point next year to celebrate bigger than you ever have. Go all out, plan early, and remember what was lost this year. You will appreciate next year’s holidays exponentially more with this year more or less a bust. I plan to either get all my family to come out here or fly back to Maine for the first time in almost 13 years or so. Since having children we’ve never been back to Maine, never seen extended family, so that’s probably how it will go. Dang, I hate snow. However, my kids love snow and believe every time we go to the mountains in winter that we are in the North Pole. One of the top 10 cutest things my daughter has ever said.
Think About Neighbors In Need
With everything going on like Covid, add to that the fires all along the west coast & the storms along the east coast, you know people are hurting with loss. If you have a neighbor in need even something small could make a big difference. It could be the difference between having a Thanksgiving that makes you believe in humanity again or seeing the world for the way it is being depicted in the news.
I think this year is the Thanksgiving to show each other that we still have plenty to be thankful for. I also think this year is showing us that moving forward we need to appreciate the opportunities to see our loved ones and if we are stuck at home to appreciate that time to be close to our families. Is it easy? No. Is it always fun? No. Will they get on your nerves? YES! But appreciate it none-the-less. Happy Thanksgiving to you all!!!
