Celebrating safely during a pandemic when your children are health care professionals needs to be creative if we are going to do anything "together". Our solution is a simple one. We're doing a DRIVE BY Thanksgiving. We did the same at Easter this year.
We live about 90 miles from the furthest family, and 70 miles away from the closest family. Tomorrow morning we'll drive to Sioux Falls and deliver a box of goodies to one family, visit for awhile at a socially acceptable distance with masks on, and then continue on to Canton to deliver the other box and repeat. Then we'll come home and eat our little Thanksgiving dinner and be grateful for being able to at least see and talk to everyone, however briefly. Everyone except our older daughter who will be working an extra shift at the hospital tomorrow.
What's in the boxes you ask? My girls and I have an annual tradition where I give them a new Christmas ornament every year. I began this tradition when they were born so by the time they moved to their own places they had a small box of ornaments for their own trees. Now I give them a "family" ornament, and each grandchild receives a new ornament, continuing that tradition to the new generation. Normally I give those ornaments to them whenever we get together for Thanksgiving.
So the boxes contain their 2020 ornaments plus 2 new Jan Brett books for each family. Each family is getting a Grinch dish towel which seems quite appropriate for this year. There are also some yummy goodies - hot cocoa mix and mini marshmallows, a bottle of sparkling wine, and more. And in Laura's box is the stocking I made for her mother-in-law (who lives with them) plus an ornament for that grandma too.
At Easter when we did this the weather was warmer so we didn't mind visiting outdoors. Jack even drew a big X on the sidewalk to show us where to stand. It will be too cold tomorrow to spend much time outdoors visiting, but even a little time together is a blessing. I'll take it.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!
4 comments:
You have a good plan! We will be on facetime with ours as with our weather it would be a real quick Hi and Bye:( Happy Thanks Giving!
Family holiday traditions are fun. I’m glad that even a pandemic can’t stop them. Happy Thanksgiving.
Sounds like a great tradition(s)! You are so very blessed. They are too!!
Happy Thanksgiving weekend!
Making it work for you and the rest of the family is no small feat. It was hard to not have the whole family together, but we made it work, but like you continued some of the traditions that we usually do with the family. Hopefully next year, we'll be back on track for a normal holiday.
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