Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to make holidays work for you. If celebrating
Speaker 1: a holiday the usual way doesn't quite fit in your life,
Speaker 1: mark the holiday differently. This past Mother's Day, I heard
Speaker 1: about a woman who didn't have kids who sent a
Speaker 1: text to her neighbors with pets who also had no kids,
Speaker 1: saying Happy Mother's Day to those of us with fur babies.
Speaker 1: One person replied with a photo of her cats, and
Speaker 1: then everyone joined in with photos of their own cats
Speaker 1: and dogs. On a day when some women may feel
Speaker 1: left out, this text chain created a sense of connection
Speaker 1: among the cat and dog moms of the neighborhood and
Speaker 1: added delight two because who doesn't love cute animal pictures.
Speaker 1: Gallentine's Day and friends giving gatherings arise from the same spirit.
Speaker 1: If you are not in a romantic relationship, or even
Speaker 1: if you are, celebrating Valentine's Day with friends can feel
Speaker 1: more fun than a forced, expensive candlelight dinner. Same with Thanksgiving.
Speaker 1: If your holiday doesn't look like a huge table full
Speaker 1: of happy extended family members carving turkey, then a casual
Speaker 1: potluck Friendsgiving can hit the spot. Or maybe you do both,
Speaker 1: celebrate Thanksgiving with family and then Friendsgiving with chosen family.
Speaker 1: Make the holiday work for you, or sometimes the holiday
Speaker 1: celebration itself needs a little freshening up to customize your experience.
Speaker 1: I heard recently about a woman who started doing fun
Speaker 1: too for big family holiday gatherings because it kept every
Speaker 1: one at the table longer. She was tired of spending
Speaker 1: days in the kitchen working on a roast or a
Speaker 1: turkey for the family to be finished eating in half
Speaker 1: an hour. But with cheese fondue and oil fondue and
Speaker 1: chocolate fondue, her family lingered around the table because they
Speaker 1: had to. It was less work for her, and the
Speaker 1: ratio of cooking to eating changed. Or instead of shrinking
Speaker 1: the cooking time and lengthening the dinner time, you could
Speaker 1: simplify the whole meal. I know of a pastor who
Speaker 1: hosts what he calls a Jesus Is Risen hot dog
Speaker 1: roast for pastors and their families every Easter. After all
Speaker 1: those services, most clergy members don't want to cook ham
Speaker 1: or another traditional Easter feast. He could be of service
Speaker 1: to other tired clergy members and their families and throw
Speaker 1: a very easy cookout because it takes almost no energy
Speaker 1: at all to turn on a gas grille. Throw a
Speaker 1: few dozen hot dogs on there and take them off.
Speaker 1: Add some bags of chips of fruit salad from the
Speaker 1: store and ice cream bars, and we have a wonderful
Speaker 1: and very helpful dinner party. So if there is a
Speaker 1: holiday that doesn't work for you in the usual way,
Speaker 1: take some license to customize it to suit you find
Speaker 1: others who would appreciate your new way of celebrating. With
Speaker 1: a little playfulness and creativity, you can transform a holiday
Speaker 1: that might have made you feel left out into one
Speaker 1: that suits you. To a tea. If you have a
Speaker 1: holiday that you celebrate in your own way, I would
Speaker 1: love to hear about it. You can reach me at
Speaker 1: Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. In the meantime, this
Speaker 1: is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the
Speaker 1: most of our tie. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.
Speaker 1: If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach
Speaker 1: me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia.
Speaker 1: Please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you
Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.