Thanksgiving is Cancelled!?!?

Thanksgiving isn't cancelled but with all the precautions it will probably look a little bit different this year.

With all the craziness of living in a pandemic many of us are trying to figure out to find some normalcy in our lives. I had hoped that by the holiday season we would see an improvement in our current situation. However, the opposite is true. Depending on your area you may be seeing increased restrictions. So what does that mean for your family? The CDC has given some guidelines on how to keep ourselves and our families safe.

Activities they have deemed Low Risk are as follows:

• A small dinner with the people in your household

• A virtual dinner with family and friends

• Preparing food for family and neighbors (especially those at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 who are social distancing), and delivering it to them without person-to-person contact

• Shopping online rather than in person on Black Friday and Cyber Monday

• Watching sports events, parades and movies at home

Moderate Risk Activities

• A small dinner with the people in your household

• A virtual dinner with family and friends

• Preparing food for family and neighbors (especially those at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 who are social distancing), and delivering it to them without person-to-person contact

• Shopping online rather than in person on Black Friday and Cyber Monday

• Watching sports events, parades and movies at home

High Risk Activities

• Going shopping in crowded stores just before, on or after Thanksgiving

• Participating or being a spectator at a crowded race

• Attending crowded parade

• Using alcohol or drugs

• Attending large indoor gatherings with people from outside of your household

The CDC recommends avoiding any activities that involve large numbers of people whether they are family or not. Our main concern really needs to be the safety of our loved ones. You know your family best, and you know what is best for them. You as the host need to establish the guidelines and make sure everyone involved is aware of them. Then, we all need to have patience and love. This year more than ever we need to make sure our family knows we love them. Make sure to include everyone that you can anyway that you can. Those family members that are forced to stay home still want to be a part of all the fun. Help them to zoom or face time, whatever they can do to join in.

This time of year is traditionally a time when we work on building and strengthening our relationships. This can still happen, it just may take a little bit of adjusting. Family activities can still happen you just may need to get a little more creative. We will get through this pandemic and with a little bit of effort you can get through it having built stronger relationships with those closest to you. Now go tell your family you love them ♥︎♥︎♥︎