holiday plans and the pandemic

posiepurrs

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How are all of you planning to handle family get togethers for Thanksgiving and Christmas in light of the pandemic and the rising numbers of infections (again)? Thanksgiving it will just be my husband and myself, with a call to the kids. Christmas we are talking about setting a time to have a virtual gift opening. I worry because my daughter is alone. My sons have significant others, but all she has are roommates that drive her crazy.
 

AbbysMom

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No gatherings here. :bawling: I normally have over 20 people here for Thanksgiving and it will be just my husband and I. I'm really struggling with it. Right now Thanksgiving is a trigger for me that reflects everything I've lost this year. Normally my house is fully decorated for fall and now there are just a handful of things out. I've suggested to my husband that we put up the Christmas tree on Thanksgiving so I don't fall into the same funk for Christmas. Don't get me wrong, I've been saying for years how overwhelming Thanksgiving is for me and I could use a break from hosting, but not this way.

No Christmas gatherings either. I honestly don't feel like buying gift for my family either. I'll have to have a discussion with them at some point. Right now not getting together isn't bothering me as much for Christmas as it is for Thanksgiving, but as it gets closer it probably will.
 

wali_the_cat

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I live alone with my lovely cat Wali and am immunocompromised. My parents are on the the other side of the country and my sib is in the military. So... Thanksgiving this year I will be cooking a vegan feast for myself :)

Honestly it will be far less stressful than the usual Thanksgiving with my family. Everyone else eats meat and half of them roll their eyes at my vegetable sides (which are good!!!) The meal usually ends with an argument of some kind... I'm looking forward to peace and quiet this year!

I miss my family, but I'm quite looking forward to celebrating with myself and my cat <3
 
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posiepurrs

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No gatherings here. :bawling: I normally have over 20 people here for Thanksgiving and it will be just my husband and I. I'm really struggling with it. Right now Thanksgiving is a trigger for me that reflects everything I've lost this year. Normally my house is fully decorated for fall and now there are just a handful of things out. I've suggested to my husband that we put up the Christmas tree on Thanksgiving so I don't fall into the same funk for Christmas. Don't get me wrong, I've been saying for years how overwhelming Thanksgiving is for me and I could use a break from hosting, but not this way.

No Christmas gatherings either. I honestly don't feel like buying gift for my family either. I'll have to have a discussion with them at some point. Right now not getting together isn't bothering me as much for Christmas as it is for Thanksgiving, but as it gets closer it probably will.
We always just have the kids over (a total of 8 people) except when my husband was working. He would invite anyone who didn't have a place to go to dinner. I always loved cooking for the holiday, but was exhausted afterwards! I think I may decorate for Christmas at Thanksgiving. I already did what little shopping I plan to do, except for stocking stuffers. Even though my kids are grown, the stockings are their favorite part of the Holiday. This year I had to set a budget and stick with it. Gone are the days we spend $$$ on our grand daughter, I am considering doing a lot of homemade food gifts too. I already have a couple of bottles of hot pepper vinegar for my son.
 

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It will just be Rick and me for Thanksgiving....and Christmas, too, at this point.
In lieu of actual gifts for The Grands, we're thinking of sending them each a card with a check inside. I may UPS a box of cookies down, too, because our DGD loves my chocolate crinkles. We thought about driving down and staying on their back porch with masks on, just long enough to give them their cards, checks, and cookies. But even that's not really safe at this point.

It's just sad.
 

klunick

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Just the 4 of us for both holidays. It will be weird but also kind of nice. No hassles of trying to coordinate arrival times for everyone.
 

Lari

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I'll definitely be quarantining for Christmas - too close to my due date. I imagine it's just going to be me and my husband for Thanksgiving as well, even though it was our year to spend it with his family.
 

muffy

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I don't know what my family is doing for Thanksgiving and Christmas this year but I am in assisted living and I will not be going anywhere. Because of Covid everybody eats in there room. Being vegetarian Thanksgiving is not a big deal to me. I am not liked to much in my family so being alone is no big deal for me. I will miss my Tommy very much.
 

susanm9006

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I am doing Thanksgiving for family, 6-10. We will wear masks except while eating and I will split us into three tables for that to keep some distance. Xmas Eve it will just be my usual with son and his partner. Skipping Christmas Day altogether because it is usually at sisters house. Her son died last winter and she isn’t up to a big holiday celebration.
 

MoochNNoodles

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Its often just my little family or us plus my mom and stepdad; who are our only local family. So they will probably be pretty normal.

I’m a bit of a military brat; so I’ve learned to make the most of things I can’t change. That doesn’t mean I don’t miss family or get sad when I see posts from my family doing things together on social media. But honestly just purposing to have a good attitude about things does a lot to help me enjoy the here and now. I’ve done the wallowing; it’s not helpful. I’ve grieved over holidays after tough losses. So I get it. Its hard to miss traditions and live small. But I make concious choices where I can and its so much better.
 

sivyaleah

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Not chancing seeing family. While I know we all are doing our best to stay safe I'm not so sure I fully trust any of their kids. They are all all grown now and have their own lives and I see them on social media. Masked, but they do hang out with friends periodically, eat at restaurants, etc. I just can't do it - my husband is now in that at risk group and if I got sick, my company would be seriously impacted since I'm the only one that knows how to do billing/payroll.

Thanksgiving at home, may or may not even cook this year since it's only the 2 of us. Looking for take-in options but unfortunately the 3 best restaurants that did catering on holidays closed in the past few months due to the pandemic.

We don't celebrate Christmas so that one isn't a time we will miss. Will just enjoy being off from work for a few days.
 

lizzie

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There's just us and our son and daughter in law,and they're planning on coming up here.We'll just have a nice quiet dinner and a wonderful visit and that's that.
 

jeannem

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I am still fighting to keep the weight off. Thanksgiving will be vegetables 3 cups salad and the usual 1/2 cup pinto beans with 2 microwaved tortillas. 1/2 sliced apple.
I am thinking of not having Dave get a Christmas wreath this year. I don't want Suki to eat any of it!
j
 
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posiepurrs

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Two of my three kids live in Boston, one has roommates. So given that my husband and I are both in the high risk group, everyone is staying home. I hate it too! Having grown up in a family where it seemed every Holiday was ruined, tradition and family are important to me. My daughter will have no one to celebrate with since she is alone (with roommates who will probably travel) Her roommates are not ones to exercise caution. Our county is one of the less affected in the state, but cases have gone up over 10% since last week.
 

ZombieTiger

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I live in Europe, so no Thanksgiving, but I was supposed to have people from Spain visiting me for Christmas who are now unable to because of flight prices/access.
It looks like I'll be spending Christmas alone with the kitten this year.
 

denice

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We aren't getting together this year. We will do a Skype call in the afternoon. I ordered the Bob Evan's Turkey dinner for four so I can still eat too much traditional Thanksgiving dinner and have leftovers. It will just be me and my cat, I am sure she will help eat the turkey.
 

MoochNNoodles

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denice denice That sounds good! I love their veggie soup. I considered ordering from them one year when it was going to be just us. My pastor’s wife brought us food from there a few years ago when I was really sick. That soup was sooo good during that time! Im pretty sure it was turkey with mashed potatoes and green beans. The soup is what really stuck with me.
 
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