Search Results for: blog how are you spending the day after thanksgiving

Is Your Business Ready For Holiday Shoppers?

Today I began to wonder whether I had missed Thanksgiving. I went grocery shopping at my local grocery store after returning from a vacation, and everything is ready for Christmas. There are Christmas decorations on the store windows, Christmas displays on the shelves, and Christmas music too. I remember a time when stores used to decorate for Thanksgiving, but I saw no sign of that today. In fact, the only things that hinted that it is nearly Thanksgiving were the great prices on frozen turkeys and the end cap displays filled with stuffing mixes, canned pumpkin, and other Thanksgiving must … Continue reading →

Holidays, Travel, and Family Expectations

Holidays can be tricky for anyone, in any family situation. Married couples without kids, however, face a special conundrum: with whom to spend the day(s)? Again, this can be tough for anyone, but childless marrieds face a particular pressure: you don’t have kids, so it falls to you to drive sometimes long distances to attend the family get-together. Of course that returns us to the initial question: with whose family do we spend the holidays? We pick one side of the family for Thanksgiving and the other for Easter, because Jon’s parents and my parents live far enough away from … Continue reading →

Thankful…Even If I am Working the Day after Thanksgiving

Yes, it’s the day after Thanksgiving and I am working. I don’t get to stand in a long line, waiting for door buster savings at my favorite stores…no Black Friday shopping for me. I didn’t get to sleep in very late. In fact, this week doesn’t feel much different than most weeks. The only way I was able to “take off” yesterday for Thanksgiving was to plan my work so that I would end up spending some of my Saturday doing it. Now don’t get me wrong…I am not trying to get sympathy. Would I rather be enjoying the day … Continue reading →

Working on Thanksgiving – Just a Tiny Bit

There are ten more minutes left of Thanksgiving, so technically I am working on Thanksgiving albeit just a little bit. We hosted Thanksgiving, so even though I had done quite a bit of food preparation and cleaning yesterday there was a lot more to be taken care of today. Fortunately, I had the foresight to take that into account when planning my work schedule. I decided that one hour today (thanks to the odd hours I keep it is really more like early Friday morning) would be a reasonable amount of work to do. As I sit here still stuffed … Continue reading →

Ways to Make Thanksgiving Less Stressful for Kids With ASD

Thanksgiving is typically celebrated by spending time with family, and eating a big meal. This is a day that is going to completely throw off the schedule that your autistic child is used to. This can make things stressful for both the child, and his or her parents. Here are some tips to make coping with Thanksgiving a little bit easier on your child. Kids who have an autism spectrum disorder rely on there being a consistent schedule. When school is out due to a holiday, like Thanksgiving, this can cause your child to feel some stress. Suddenly, everything he … Continue reading →

Make Thanksgiving a Teachable Moment

Who says Thanksgiving is just a day set aside to expand your waistline? If you are a parent, consider using the holiday to broaden your kids’ minds. In many cases children are taught the history of Thanksgiving in class. They get generic lessons about the Mayflower, Plymouth Rock, Pilgrims and Indians, but far less time is spent schooling youngsters about the true meaning of the day—-gratitude. Whereas the first Thanksgiving took place in 1621, when Governor Bradford of the Plymouth colony appointed a day for public praise and prayer after the first harvest, the first national observance didn’t come until … Continue reading →

Holiday Shopping Strategy

It is official, holiday shopping season has begun. In my house, tis the season of scouting for deals and trying to give meaningful gifts that our friends and family will appreciate while spending as little as possible. Both my husband and I are active players in the holiday shopping game, he finances the venture and often hits the stores after he gets out of work in the hopes that he can snag some great gifts on clearance and I scour store ads and online ads for great prices on things that we were thinking of buying as gifts. Black Friday … Continue reading →

Black Friday Started Early This Year

Can’t wait for the Black Friday sales? Neither can many retail stores. Some are so anxious to have crowds of shoppers visit them that they have started their Black Friday sales today, on Thanksgiving. I cannot help but wonder if this early start will become the new way to do Black Friday sales. Here is a quick overview of what stores started early, on Thanksgiving 2010. According to the Huffington Post a few of the major retailers started their Black Friday deals early last Thanksgiving as well. I think this has the potential to make some shoppers anxious. You end … Continue reading →

Family Stories About Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a time for being thankful for all the wonderful things in your life. Many people spend the week of Thanksgiving visiting with members of their family. Genealogists can spend this holiday hearing about, and recording, the family stories that are shared over dinner. Does your family have stories about Thanksgiving? It seems like every family has some Thanksgiving traditions that they do each and every year. Maybe everyone meets for Thanksgiving dinner at grandma’s house. Your family might spend Thanksgiving day itself at the home of your parent’s, and the day before, or day after, visiting with your … Continue reading →

Do Holidays Always Include Extended Family?

My husband and I chose to spend Mother’s Day with his parents this year. They were willing to come to our house, which worked great for me, because our baby is always happier in the comfort of our home. While my daughter napped, my mother-in-law and I relaxed in front of the TV (finally, I was able to watch TLC instead of ESPN). Our husbands slaved away in the kitchen, working to prepare a delicious Mother’s Day meal. We admired the flowers we’d been given and enjoyed the feeling of putting our feet up. After lunch, the whole gang headed … Continue reading →