Did Thanksgiving pop out of nowhere for anyone else? No? Just me? Well, this year, due primarily to the pandemic, we are having a small scale Thanksgiving. Meaning, mostly just the household, with only those we are constantly around invited otherwise.
Then there are those, like my sister, who live alone and will be celebrating alone this year – but just because this year looks very different from previous years, doesn’t mean we can’t still celebrate!! We just have to adjust our lenses, and celebrate a bit differently.
Small Scale Thanksgiving Celebration:
My sister, as mentioned above, will be celebrating alone this year – but she has some great plans to keep the holiday special and not let it pass unnoticed. One of my favorite things she is doing this year, is making traditional Thanksgiving foods (in small batches) all week.
I have been considering the “small batches” frequently lately – even with our (very small) gathering, we will be cutting back amounts of food drastically – otherwise we would be drowning in leftovers!
So let’s talk small batches for a moment.
Consider:
- Buying a turkey breast to roast instead of a whole bird
- Using online recipes (such as the Trim Healthy Mama membership site, for those THM’s reading this) that allow you to adjust the batch size for each recipe, and calculate the new measurements for you.
- Making fewer recipes overall
- Repurposing leftovers after Thanksgiving, like turning leftover turkey into soup or sandwiches
Celebrating Alone?
Just because you are celebrating alone this year doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the holiday just like anyone else.
Enjoy the traditional foods (they don’t have to be unhealthy!) and maybe even start a new tradition to do every year, alone or with a gathering.
My mother-in-law did an awesome craft with the children this year that would make a great tradition with little ones – paper pumpkins with what you are thankful for written on each piece. For crafts, that is just the tip of the iceberg for what can be found online.
Or, if there aren’t young ones involved, consider something like this instead: there are so many families and older adults shut in due to the pandemic that won’t be celebrating as usual this year. Even in a typical year, there are older adults who don’t have people to celebrate with. So, this year, we are making pies for those people. We have a list of names, and each family, couple, or shut-in is going to have a pie delivered to them.
The pies can be left on the porch with a note (just make sure to text, call, or ring the doorbell so they look) so that they don’t have to be afraid of spreading/getting the virus, but this way they will have a piece of small scale Thanksgiving in their home.
Celebrating with your household, or alone, Thanksgiving should be a time to celebrate – and there’s no reason to miss out. You CAN celebrate alone and still remember the holiday.
How are you celebrating this year? Let me know in the comments below.
Pssst! Glad Thanksgiving is over and just looking to recover? Here’s 3 Tips for Recovering from the Holidays.
Christian, wife, “hybrid” mama, I run the site All Behind A Smile to help others like me.
[…] Bonus idea: don’t invite a large crowd, and instead celebrate a small, intimate Thanksgiving (see more about this idea over at Celebrating a Small Scale Thanksgiving) […]