Thanksgiving is Cancelled (Christmas too)

Luke Chitwood
4 min readNov 26, 2020
Photo by Artem Maltsev on Unsplash

Making the Best of the Holidays –– and Dealing with the Worst

In the back of my mind, there’s been a little glimmer, a tiny place I’ve found solace the past few months. Sure, 2020 is a dumpster fire of a year. Sure, I’m a personal and professional basket case 90% of the time. Sure, my children have won the battle for control of daytime hours, and now they’re coming for my nights too.

But, for once in my adult life, I’ve been looking forward to this: a trip extending throughout the entire American holiday season. From the weekend before Thanksgiving until almost New Years', we’d planned to decamp from Chicago to warmer, roomier climes.

We live a decent distance from our families (a 10–12 hour drive pre-children; an interminable Iditarod with). However, through a series of circumstances, my wife’s nuclear family and my parents happen to be less than 2 hours apart.

Typically, we’ll spend a few days with each side of the family whenever we visit. This time it was supposed to look a little different. (Hasn’t everything this year?) During the pandemic, our work remains fully-remote, our childcare mandates a 14-day quarantine for any out-of-area travel, and we’ve been cooped up in our city condo more than ever before.

So, we came up with a plan: go for an entire month, splitting time evenly between each of our families (or thereabouts — please don’t tell either of our mothers the exact split).

I imagined evenings warmed by a yule log, games and conversations that didn’t require an internet connection, and — something highly desirable to a parent in a place like Chicago — the ability to send my child outside to play at a moment’s notice. We would work remotely, have a little extra help with the kids, not have to cook all our own meals. We’d even leave the dog with family for the rest of the winter (the dog and the family didn’t know this yet, but we liked our chances).

There were, admittedly, also some cons to this plan. My wife and I each residing with our in-laws for 2+ weeks (we’re fortunate to love each other’s families, but still…). Driving across the country with two kids and a dog. Sharing a room (yes, all 5 of us) for at least a week of the trip. And, oh right, driving across the country during a…

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Luke Chitwood

Writer, Storyteller, Problem-Solver. Beginner-level Husband and Father. Coffee drinker since age 1. #CollegeAccess, #Writing, & #HigherEd.