‘Friendsgiving’ Is The Perfect Celebration For Teens
I’m sure you’ve heard of the brilliant way to celebrate your friends in the fall: Friendsgiving. It’s like a day of feasting to show your friends how thankful you are for them — and to me, this combination really works in my life since my kids aren’t a huge fan of the turkey-gobbling holiday.
I never fails though; every year I get really excited for Thanksgiving and feel the need to go out and buy myself a new outfit in fall colors, make it look like a gourd farm has thrown up on my dining room table, and spend hours making chocolate leaves for a chocolate pie I make every year. Like, I literally paint melted chocolate onto a leaf, freeze it, peel it off, and place it in a circular pattern around the edge of the pie.
Also these leaves have to be in ombre fashion so I melt dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and white chocolate just so.
Oh, and I make homemade whipped cream for this damn pie. My teenagers like Cool Whip better, but I’m sure this will change soon so I’ll keep whipping my own cream.
I do this all to make things special for my kids and hope they really get into giving thanks for all we have and all I do for them on this day, but they couldn’t give fewer shits about Thanksgiving. They come down in their hoodies, wonder why I’m acting like my mother, and ask when they “have to eat.”
Kids (especially teenagers) don’t freaking like Thanksgiving and it shows. So, what better way to get them into the holiday as much as you can by letting them have their own Friendsgiving?
I’ve had a few of them with friends and I love it. We only bring our favorite dishes, no one feels like they have to make anything from scratch (okay, that’s a lie because I do) and no one is forcing anyone to sit around a table and act cheery and blessed as they butter a roll.
If you have teenagers, why not help them plan a Friendsgiving celebration this year?
It doesn’t have to be a huge event, and you can be like me and tell them you will do the food shopping (after they make a list) but the rest of the planning is up to them. (Planning an extravagant meal no one really appreciates once a year is enough for me anyway.)
It will give them something to look forward to, and it’s always nice to be able to celebrate with friends in a setting other than school, a game, or just hanging out at each other’s house, ordering pizza, and staring at their phones.
Here are some ways to have a fun, fuss-free Friendsgiving for your teens:
– Have them make a shopping list of what they want to make for their Friendsgiving and have them reach out to their friends and ask everyone to bring their favorite dish.
– Look on Pinterest together and find a few cute crafts (like name cards) they could make beforehand.
– Gather some ideas of activities your teen can do with their friends when the eating is done, like a movie marathon, playing board games, or a round of flag football.
– Scout out places to go for a scenic walk.
– Be there to help, but let your kids host. After all, it’s their party and their friends.
– If no one is up for planning an entire meal, have a dessert party.
– Buy some supplies to make holiday ornaments.
– Have everyone bring their favorite Thanksgiving recipe (written down on a recipe card), put them in a hat and have everyone pick out a new recipe to bring home.
– Suggest they tell stories about their favorite Thanksgiving memory.
Not only will your teens appreciate what it means to host a party or holiday by hosting their own Friendsgiving, it will teach them responsibility, planning, and the joy of having their friends over to celebrate each another.
It could be a start of a tradition that will last a lifetime for them, and you get to sit back and witness it all.
If you ask me, that’s definitely something to be thankful for.
