Ideas for making holidays special without family in town?

carlinlp · November 2011

We usually host Thansgiving for DH's family but this year they decided not to come. Of course we are really bummed, especially the kids. I'm afraid without family it's going to feel like just any other day. They are also not coming for christmas either

Does anyone have any ideas for ways to make holidays special when it's just us?

carlinlp · November 2011

Yeah, we would love to do that but I think our friends are afraid of the way we eat lol

MrsAJL · November 2011

Since it will just be the five of you, what about making T-Day a movie day? Y'all can have Thanksgiving lunch and then go see the new Muppet movie.

Or maybe instead of that, turn Thanksgiving meal into a picnic. The weather is supposed to be in the mid-70s and sunny, so it will be nice weather.

I'm not sure about Christmas. Since we don't celebrate, our new tradition is going to the SA Zoo and having a picnic (at least until Ben and Molly are old enough to enjoy the traditional movies-and-Chinese-food.)

SarahPLiz · November 2011

What about a lesson on counting one's blessings by volunteering at a soup kitchen that day, or something similar?

carlinlp · November 2011

MrsAJL:
Since it will just be the five of you, what about making T-Day a movie day? Y'all can have Thanksgiving lunch and then go see the new Muppet movie.
Or maybe instead of that, turn Thanksgiving meal into a picnic. The weather is supposed to be in the mid-70s and sunny, so it will be nice weather.
I'm not sure about Christmas. Since we don't celebrate, our new tradition is going to the SA Zoo and having a picnic (at least until Ben and Molly are old enough to enjoy the traditional movies-and-Chinese-food.)

Good ideas! Thank you. DH and I decided to rent blow up sumo wrestling suits to keep Christmas interesting. I brought the idea to him and he loved it. His feelings are really hurt that his family isn't coming and I'm just worried the holidays will be sad. I love the idea of getting out of the house.

BSE · November 2011

MrsAJL:
Since it will just be the five of you, what about making T-Day a movie day? Y'all can have Thanksgiving lunch and then go see the new Muppet movie.
Or maybe instead of that, turn Thanksgiving meal into a picnic. The weather is supposed to be in the mid-70s and sunny, so it will be nice weather.
I'm not sure about Christmas. Since we don't celebrate, our new tradition is going to the SA Zoo and having a picnic (at least until Ben and Molly are old enough to enjoy the traditional movies-and-Chinese-food.)

thanks for the good idea! good to know they are open! although i might try to smuggle my 6 month old into the movies

luluAXA · November 2011

No ideas for thanksgiving since I didn't grow up with that holiday but music always gets me in the christmas mood. I love to sing christmas songs and dance with my son, maybe the family can bake and decorate something together (I might try that this year since my son is finally big enough), drive around and see the lights, do some craft stuff like make ornaments or garlands, maybe take gifts to the less fortunate or volunteer somewhere, watch holiday movies, visit with friends, etc You can plan it out and do something different each day.

BSE · November 2011

carlinlp:
Yeah, we would love to do that but I think our friends are afraid of the way we eat lol

you could invite them over for dessert- that way everyone has their own traditional meal but can still hang out. and if you make it potluck then everyone has something to eat.

ec3under4 · November 2011

Growing up it was just us for the holidays. I always liked it, we could always roll to our own beat and didn't have to be anywhere at any certain time. We do that now too. We never see DH's family, we get together with my family but it's always the weekend after. We always have special pj's that we wear...sometimes all day. We make something special and just enjoy the day relaxing. My kids are too young to enjoy it but growing up we always went to a movie on Thanksgiving. It was always fun and nobody is really there. Sometimes it's hard to motivate yourself to do something different so that it's not like any other day. Since my kiddos are young, they help me cook and I always have special holiday crafts for them to do as well. We usually will get together with some of our close family friends who don't have family in town and drink beer/let the kids play during the afternoon. It's just a matter of finding new traditions!!

flymansWife · November 2011

what about volunteering as a family? serving at a soup kitchen or something?

growing up when we went up to my grandmother's we always went to go see a movie thanksgiving late afternoon/early evening with my cousins which was fun!

austxgrl · November 2011

We are kind of in the same boat this year. You know DH's family is just his mom and brother so it will just be the 4 of us. DH works every Thankgiving morning so it will just be me cooking with my mimosa and the dogs while watching the parade in the morning then MIL and BIL are coming over in the afternoon and we'll do dinner. You guys wanna come over and hang out with us after you finish your meal?

In years past I always volunteered for Operation Turkey in the morning and love love loved it!! They have a really great set up for the kids to get involved. The parents can cook/package, etc. while the kids help decorate the boxes. I highly recommend it. Its a great experience for the family.

Temp13436125005166 · November 2011

I don't have any ideas just commiserating. BIL and niece aren't coming for Thanksgiving or Christmas this year :-( We still have MIL/FIL who are in town but no other kids, boo!

YellowUmbrella · November 2011

Growing up we never had family in for Thanksgiving, it was always just us. We would watch the parade on TV in the morning and then help cook the meal - we all had something that we were in charge of.

Usually after eating mid-day we would go to a movie if something good came out. Or we would get a new movie to watch at home in our pj's and then take a nap.

To make it more special, can you get the kiddos to do some craft projects to decorate the house? Volunteering is also a great idea but might be hard with your littler ones.

carlinlp · November 2011

Thank you for all the ideas! Volunteering gets tough if it involves food due to food allergies.

YellowUmbrella · November 2011

carlinlp:
Thank you for all the ideas! Volunteering gets tough if it involves food due to food allergies.

What about something like Meals on Wheels? You wouldn't be actually handling any food, just delivering it and visiting with people.

GuavaGal · November 2011

Last year I walked the Turkey Trot with a small group, and it was a surprisingly fun way to start the day. There's also a kids' "run" that some of the kids in our group enjoyed (we cheered them on prior to the Trot).

During college, my brother and I had a tradition of sneaking off to a movie on Christmas Day after lunch. . .mainly to escape helping out with clean up. Embarrassed

Taytee · November 2011

If we weren't already hosting, I'd totally invite myself (ourselves?) over to experience your family's style of eating Big Smile

AustinMimi · November 2011

ec3under4:
Growing up it was just us for the holidays. I always liked it, we could always roll to our own beat and didn't have to be anywhere at any certain time. We do that now too. We never see DH's family, we get together with my family but it's always the weekend after. We always have special pj's that we wear...sometimes all day. We make something special and just enjoy the day relaxing. My kids are too young to enjoy it but growing up we always went to a movie on Thanksgiving. It was always fun and nobody is really there. Sometimes it's hard to motivate yourself to do something different so that it's not like any other day. Since my kiddos are young, they help me cook and I always have special holiday crafts for them to do as well. We usually will get together with some of our close family friends who don't have family in town and drink beer/let the kids play during the afternoon. It's just a matter of finding new traditions!!

This was us as well and I always loved the holidays. I come from a very tiny family: don't have a single cousin and have only one aunt and she and all of my grandparents lived out of state. My grandmother used to come for the holidays every year, though. I remember having fun playing outside in the afternoons on Christmas days since Texas is so, uhhh, not a winter wonderland. One thing my parents made us do that I really appreciate now was that we would rotate opening gifts and do them one at a time. It made me appreciate the things that all of us were given and I remember the smiling happy faces of my family members opening their gifts. I still prefer that to the crazy wrapping paper flying frenzy that DH's heathen family has.

FeistyFille · November 2011

GuavaGal:
Last year I walked the Turkey Trot with a small group, and it was a surprisingly fun way to start the day. There's also a kids' "run" that some of the kids in our group enjoyed (we cheered them on prior to the Trot).

During college, my brother and I had a tradition of sneaking off to a movie on Christmas Day after lunch. . .mainly to escape helping out with clean up.

I was going to suggest the same.

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