Thanksgiving is the one holiday where the only focus is of togetherness, being thankful for the people in your life and what your life has provided you with. As being the biggest family holiday of the year, you may want to be able to spend it with everyone you love, but if you’re a single mother, chances are you will have to share your children with their father and his family on this day.
Since Thanksgiving is such an important holiday for the family, here are a few ways that you can make it through the holiday without wanting to forego every holiday in the future.
- Sharing the Day.
Splitting the holiday down the middle isn’t the ideal situation, but it often works the best. What you do is have your children spend the day before Thanksgiving and the morning of with you and the second half of Thanksgiving and the day after with their other parent. If you are worried about your kids eating too much in the first part of the day, simply ask the other parent to only give them small portions so that they can eat later. Or, if it works better, have the kids eat with you and then participate in family activities, dessert, or watching the game with the other parent.
- Celebrate Thanksgiving on Another Day.
Thanksgiving is traditionally celebrated on Thursday, that much we all know. One way you can avoid sharing your kids on the holiday is by creating a completely new tradition of celebrating it a day or two off. This way, you can have your family together and not worry about having to shuttle the kids to their other half of the family and getting stuck in traffic. This is a great way appease the ex and still get to spend quality time with your children.
- Celebrate the Day Alone.
If you do decide to celebrate Thanksgiving on another day, use the actual holiday as a day of pampering. You’ve spent family time with your kids on another day, everything is cleaned up from the festivities, and now you have the house to yourself. Use this time to soak in a luxurious bubble bath. Open a bottle of wine and sip on it while listening to your favorite audiobook. Thanksgiving is about being thankful for what you have, and that includes alone time.
- New Partner in Your Life? Go on a Romantic Getaway.
If you have a new partner in your life, you can use the extended weekend to book a private getaway for just the two of you. Work out the details of who will have the kids for that weekend and go away. Thanksgiving is a good opportunity to spend some alone time with the new love of your life.
- Invite Other Single Moms Over for a New Family
If you’re in a new area or just want to create a larger family then just you and your kids at the table, invite some of your single mom friends and their children. Sometimes, your family isn’t always about blood connections, but the people you want in your life, no matter what.