Have you ever not done Thanksgiving?

[Maveno]

One year we didn't cook turkey, we were driving many miles because of family being in the hospital. So, we ate at a really nice restaurant. Typically, we'll cook every year..

A couple of years ago, we didn't want to "do Christmas". Meaning..why stress on the shopping, why have a messy pine tree in the living room, blah blah blah. So, we made an agreement that we'll just have fun and NOT WORRY about all that stuff. Including gifts.
Our friends were bothered by this decision.
SO BOTHERED that one of them went and bought a tree for us and brought it over the day before Xmas. :rolleyes We were really irritated about it, cause who is SHE to enforce it on us?? Especially when WE agreed that that's what we wanted to do! We weren't poor, sad and embarrassed..not at all, and we explained this. Nope. She wouldn't have anything to do with that, so UP goes the tree with all the decorations we didn't want to deal with. The topper... on Xmas day... guess who came over with armfuls of presents!? Yep, you guessed it. We didn't even have any to give in return, cause we didn't expect her to play Santa on us.
I know it was super nice of her to do all that, but really..it was also rude of her NOT to acknowledge our wishes.

[Rtv9]

every year we always just get the family together and sit down to enjoy a nice meal.. thats pretty much thanksgiving

[Muduh]

For about three years we have not been able to celebrate either Thanksgiving or Christmas. Most of you are already weary of that story so I'll not repeat it. Anyway I wasn't going to cook this year. Wednesday morning I changed my mind and shopped, cooked all day and we have enough food for all weekend. I guess cooking one day and eating it for the next four isn't a bad deal.
I can no longer handle a big turkey so I bought a boneless turkey breast. You might like to try one sometime. We really like it and it was very easy to manage.

[J.D.]

My brother's wife died three years ago on Thanksgiving, unexpectedly from a heart attack - she was only 50 - so it's been tough trying to make the day different and a more uplifting day for all of us. My nephew (her son) decided to cook this year. He's 19, and just a gem of a kid. He did the turkey breast, too, Muduh, and it was especially delicious! If you are not cooking for a big group, it's definitely the way to go. He also peeled the tatoes, made rolls, gravy, fresh veggies, "real" stuffing, candied yams - the whole deal. And again - grandma (my sweet mom) was right there to supervise!

(aside: my brother has finally started dating again, at 60, and seems to be happy, he adored his wife, as did we all, but are very happy for him.)

[queenb]

Some people do. In my area, it is typically turkey for Thanksgiving and ham for Christmas.

Down here in LardassLand, many people (including my family) have a turkey AND a ham.
We usually have about 25 people in and out, so by the time everyone takes an extra plate to go, there is usually nothing leftover of either one!

I think I'm going to 'skip" Christmas this year and just visit my parents the Monday before. It's just really too hard to sleep two hours after work, jump up out of bed, drive an hour and a half to Mom's, and get only a small nap in the afternoon before I have to go back to work. I've never missed it before, but it really isn't that much fun when you're worn out!

[G.G.]

The first year I was in FloriDUH, I didn't do Thanksgiving. I'd moved there in June with no job and not much savings, and in August my car needed a new alternator and in October, my cat got really sick - the kind of sick that isn't fatal...unless you don't treat it. Oh yeah...and 1 of my paychecks got stuck to another check as it was being run through the postage machine and didn't get postage. Me being the idiot I am, I paid my bills, not realizing I didn't have money in my account. 7 bounced checks and a month later, I finally got my check and the fees covered by my company.

Long story short, I just didn't have the funds to fly home to Montana and kennel my dog so I decided to stay in Orlando. I didn't know many people and wasn't about to impose on someone by whining that I had no where to go. It was actually kind of fun - no pressure to visit my mom's house and my dad's house and my grandpa's house. I watched football all day and if I recall, I ate cheese and crackers and other appetizers.

Christmas was the same story - I was still paying off the cat so I didn't get to go home. At first it was really weird; I've never once not been home for Christmas. My family still sent me presents and it was so odd to look at those boxes and know if I wanted to open them all before Christmas, I could and no one would yell at me...heh. In the end, I waited until Christmas morning to do that. The postman rang my bell around 10 AM...someone else in my family sent me an extra present and they sent it overnight mail. I thought it was so cool that the USPS delivered next-day mail on a holiday. I had an extra gift card to Home Depot that I bought as a backup present, so I gave that to the postman. It actually turned out to be a pretty cool holiday.

[Belvasgirl]

Good for you Rosekid! I think it is more important to do what makes you happy instead of what others expect of you.

You go girl!

[ElizabethG]

Down here in LardassLand, many people (including my family) have a turkey AND a ham.

"LardassLand"!!!! OMG, you must be here in Georgia with me! And yeah, my family has the turkey AND the ham!! My mom absolutely goes nuts....she gets all frantic and we try to stay out of her way. There was a good reason I bought a house totally across town....30 minute drive to come torture me now.

I actually skipped Thanksgiving altogether about 5 years ago when I was working on finishing up my master's degree and I had a HUGE research project due just after Thanksgiving. I packed my daughter off to my Mom's and I spent the day working on the project. I think I ate a ham sandwich sometime that day. It was worth it....got an A out of that class!

[queenb]

"LardassLand"!!!! OMG, you must be here in Georgia with me! And yeah, my family has the turkey AND the ham!! My mom absolutely goes nuts....she gets all frantic and we try to stay out of her way. There was a good reason I bought a house totally across town....30 minute drive to come torture me now.

Yes, in fact I AM in GA! And my Mom also loses it on holidays; we finally have her talked into doing Thanksgiving at my sister's house so we can all chip in. But Christmas, she still insists that we all go to her house.

[libra1022]

I'm trying to figure out how to not do Christmas this year....and it's NOT going over well with my family! We have a very small group of us (mom & step father, grandmother, and myself) so with me not wanting to do it, it's causing a MAJOR uproar. They've gotten used to the fact that I don't go home for Thanksgiving anymore since I work all that day as well as they day after....but they are drawing the line at Christmas and are majorly mad at me at the moment for even mentioning it. They all think that cause I'm the manager in my department it means that I get first dibs on the day off, but it's quite the opposite...because I'm the manager, I need to be there. *sigh!* Going over on Christmas Eve won't work cause we're super busy then and I need to work a closing shift, we're open on Christmas day so I'll be working also, and even the day after I am required to pull a major shift (7pm-8am for a "strip and deep cleaning")....it may be New Year's by the time I actually make it over!

Any suggestions for those that have skipped the holidays as to how to make things more "right" with my family and keep the peace?