Make holidays work for you

If you feel left out, change how you celebrate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
tip is to make holidays work for you. If celebrating
a holiday the usual way doesn't quite fit in your life,

(00:24):
mark the holiday differently. This past Mother's Day, I heard
about a woman who didn't have kids who sent a
text to her neighbors with pets who also had no kids,
saying Happy Mother's Day to those of us with fur babies.
One person replied with a photo of her cats, and
then everyone joined in with photos of their own cats

(00:47):
and dogs. On a day when some women may feel
left out, this text chain created a sense of connection
among the cat and dog moms of the neighborhood and
added delight two because who doesn't love cute animal pictures.
Gallentine's Day and friends giving gatherings arise from the same spirit.

(01:11):
If you are not in a romantic relationship, or even
if you are, celebrating Valentine's Day with friends can feel
more fun than a forced, expensive candlelight dinner. Same with Thanksgiving.
If your holiday doesn't look like a huge table full
of happy extended family members carving turkey, then a casual

(01:33):
potluck Friendsgiving can hit the spot. Or maybe you do both,
celebrate Thanksgiving with family and then Friendsgiving with chosen family.
Make the holiday work for you, or sometimes the holiday
celebration itself needs a little freshening up to customize your experience.
I heard recently about a woman who started doing fun

(01:55):
too for big family holiday gatherings because it kept every
one at the table longer. She was tired of spending
days in the kitchen working on a roast or a
turkey for the family to be finished eating in half
an hour. But with cheese fondue and oil fondue and
chocolate fondue, her family lingered around the table because they

(02:17):
had to. It was less work for her, and the
ratio of cooking to eating changed. Or instead of shrinking
the cooking time and lengthening the dinner time, you could
simplify the whole meal. I know of a pastor who
hosts what he calls a Jesus Is Risen hot dog
roast for pastors and their families every Easter. After all

(02:42):
those services, most clergy members don't want to cook ham
or another traditional Easter feast. He could be of service
to other tired clergy members and their families and throw
a very easy cookout because it takes almost no energy
at all to turn on a gas grille. Throw a
few dozen hot dogs on there and take them off.

(03:02):
Add some bags of chips of fruit salad from the
store and ice cream bars, and we have a wonderful
and very helpful dinner party. So if there is a
holiday that doesn't work for you in the usual way,
take some license to customize it to suit you find
others who would appreciate your new way of celebrating. With

(03:25):
a little playfulness and creativity, you can transform a holiday
that might have made you feel left out into one
that suits you. To a tea. If you have a
holiday that you celebrate in your own way, I would
love to hear about it. You can reach me at
Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. In the meantime, this

(03:48):
is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the
most of our tie. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.
If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach
me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast

(04:17):
is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia.
Please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you
listen to your favorite shows.