Ok, who is calling Thanksgiving already and telling family you won't be attending

[Anonymous]

We usually do Thanksgiving here at home, just the four of us. DHs aunt and uncle used to host their family but announced that 2019 was the last year they were doing it so now everyone has to make new plans. My MIL has already started making comments about hosting a dinner for the immediate family at BILs beach house and I told DH there's no way we're driving to a state that expects us to quarantine for 2 weeks upon arrival, and staying in a house with at least 6 other people (who are all from that state and therefore don't have to quarantine) during a pandemic.

[Anonymous]

We usually host. My brother (who would need to fly in, and who because of his job and his in-law's health issues hasn't been able to isolate much) asked if we were doing it this year and I think was relieved when we said no.

My inlaws, who normally join us, have recently moved to northern VA and seem to think we'll be getting together with them. I would prefer not to, especially if they invite their relative who is really bad about social distancing (nice lady but no sense of personal space and often removes her mask). I haven't talked it through with my husband yet but am thinking perhaps we'll offer to meet them for a walk in a park and then go to our respective homes for dinner.

I'm somewhat looking forward to a simpler meal with only the foods we like best. This is reminding me to clear room in the freezer and pick up a turkey breast next time I see one, as I imagine they will be in higher than usual demand from people having smaller events. Then the big birds will be really cheap after Thanksgiving and I can roast one and make all sorts of things to freeze!

[Anonymous]

Um, we canceled Thanksgiving and Christmas back in March.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Um, we canceled Thanksgiving and Christmas back in March.

We canceled saying "um" as a way to be condescending in about 7th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have local family so we'll see if we can make it work by keeping isolated in the lead up to the holidays. So we haven't called it yet. But I'm also fully prepared for it to not be normal and not nearly as many people as usual. And probably no multiple days of bouncing around to different family member's houses. Just one gathering, and that's it.

Same. We saw local grandparents carefully over the summer; would be comfortable seeing them at Thanksgiving if conditions hold. But the other grandparents, who live out of state, are already planning to miss Christmas with us.

Something tells me your "careful" summer visit won't really work at Thanksgiving. You planning to eat dinner outside on the patio in November?

[Anonymous]

We haven’t decided. I can’t imagine not being with my children and grandchildren but we would have to fly over both holidays. If there is a big surge with back to school and more indoor life we may not travel.

[Anonymous]

I don’t know if my husband has manned up and told his parents we aren’t hosting this year. He needs to do so, but he is weary of dealing with them since they can’t seem to fathom why we object to them flying to our house from Los Angeles or why we won’t pack up our kids and fly there. We don’t have any way for them to quarantine in our house for two weeks without being in contact with them, plus, given their “meh” attitude about COVID, they would likely spend all of ten minutes with being isolated in our guest room/bathroom before they’d be up in our faces.

[Anonymous]

I have an over 50 year Thanksgiving streak with about 10 family members. None of us have missed a year for any reason-until this year. We will have a zoom visit and then eat seperately.

[Anonymous]

I’m hoping we’ll have more vaccine news and maybe we can reschedule Thanksgiving for like January or February. I love Thanksgiving.

[Anonymous]

We haven't figured it all out but we're working on it. We started talking about it back in August. Our biggest worry is about the college kids. We have several in a few families who are at their universities in apartments doing online. We have a few scenarios in play. The biggest concern is that our parents and other elders really want to see all the kids. It will be a challenge to keep the older people safe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Um, we canceled Thanksgiving and Christmas back in March.

We canceled saying "um" as a way to be condescending in about 7th grade.

+1

Lol. Good comeback.

[Anonymous]

We will spend it with one kid for sure, in our second home in MA. The other DC may also join. At the moment we, and our other DC, need to be tested to go to MA, so I feel pretty comfortable with it.

Have any of you considered just doing testing to be able to include limited family members?

[Anonymous]

We are doing my FOO only instead of the large extended family thing we usually do.

We're isolating three weeks ahead of time and I'm shipping them ingredients so they aren't tempted to run out for anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are going to wait and see. Our rules are (if state guidelines make it possible at all):

-Everyone has to quarantine for two weeks
-My MIL/FIL only for Thanksgiving; my mom/dad only for Christmas. No cousins, aunts and uncles, etc.
-This can all be cancelled day-of if anyone shows any signs of illness. No "it's just a sore throat," no "I'm on the tail end of a cold," no "her temperature is elevated, but it's not technically a fever."
-You may be asked to leave early if anyone starts developing any symptoms of any type of illness.

Luckily, both sets of parents can drive in one shot.

BAHAHAHA impossible to enforce, there’s no way your family will actually do that

[Anonymous]

I've strongly hinted to my family-- we always do Thanksgiving either at my parents' house or my brother's house. It ends up being around 10 people in addition to DH, our kids, and me. DH and I are not comfortable hanging out indoors and sharing food with that many people. Christmas is always with his very large family and I can't imagine they'll go through with it this year.