A fan favorite of Joann Fabrics, Target, and HomeGoods around the U.S., Thanksgiving is unavoidable at literally every turn. Ideally Thanksgiving is a wonderful dinner with the people you love, but in reality, it can really pack the punch of seeing family members that for 364 days a year you forget exist, cause political debates that always end in a screaming match, or force out an unwarranted comment about your appearance. It can just turn out to be an overall sucky holiday with bottom tier food.
If these are your thoughts right about now, I promise you’re not alone. If you can’t make up an excuse to skip out on Thanksgiving dinner this year, here are some things you can do to make the holiday a bit more bearable:
- Get ready for Christmas
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If you don’t like Christmas, you can skip over this one, I get it. At the same time the Thanksgiving decorations come out, so do the Christmas ones. Get yourself a cute little tree and hand decorate some ornaments with your friends. It’ll remind you that Thanksgiving is just one day, and once it’s over, you can play all the Christmas music you want in the car with absolutely no shame. Also, the Elf Pilsbury cookies are so delicious and make a great addition to your Christmas prep.
- Treat yourself to something on Black Friday
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It’s okay to indulge in consumer culture after a stressful day of family drama. I’m not saying blow your entire paycheck, but get yourself that one makeup palette you’ve had your eye on; you deserve it.
- Reach out to your friends
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On a more serious note, Thanksgiving is meant to be spent with your loved ones, and that does not always mean your family. If you’re comfortable, let your friends know what you’re going through. Good friends will offer you support or whatever you need during this time. For something to do, celebrating a “friendsgiving” before the real holiday can put you in a better mood than you initially were going into it. Or if you don’t want anything to do with the “giving’s” you can just spend some time together before you head home. Either way, you don’t have to go through this alone, and what you’re feeling is completely valid.
I hope this lightened up a potentially rough subject, and soon enough we can forget about Thanksgiving for another year.