I was recently asked to write a compilation — what to do with the extended family over Thanksgiving break. I personally plan on decorating my church on Black Friday. The rest of my time will be with family. And while I believe that family time is more than food, family time doesn’t have to be this high and glorious long block of time where the men lead a game of football or billiards or street hockey with the children while the moms swap stories over scrapbooks and lattes.
Family time can be watching TV or a movie.
It could be retail shopping under the bright white glare of fluorescent tubes.
It might look like video games with your cousins.
Maybe the family does unplug and decorate for Christmas. Maybe you leave the house at midnight to people watch. Or maybe the family IS eating. For me, the point of family time and Thanksgiving is to take a break and enjoy the company of friends and family, regardless of whether electricity is required in our shared activity. Whatever I’m doing, I hope to have pleasant exchanges with people for whom I am thankful.
(To read the compilation, visit my article on Examiner.com, where you most likely will find Des Moines area activities of the unplugged variety.)
I’m linking this blog post to Simple Lives Thursday with Wardeh.