"Little House" Holidays

The holidays are wonderful, joyous times—that can also be difficult and lonely. This year, especially, might be more challenging than in the past. Here are some ideas and resources to help us all share, reach out, and connect even when we can’t be together in the same place. As I think about what celebrating Thanksgiving and  Christmas will look like this year, and some of the changes and sacrifices we’ll have to make, I am reminded of our ancestors. I think about the simple family celebrations Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote about in her “Little House” books, and I wonder if this year gives us—forces us perhaps—to have a simpler holiday too. We’ve been saying to each other for a long time now that Christmas has become too commercialized and too busy—maybe we can all take a lesson from our prairie forebears!

  • Read a book together out loud, taking turns or having grandparents read. If you haven’t read A Christmas Carol in a long time, I recommend it. It is a beautiful story was actually a driving force in creating the ideas of Christmas we have now. NPR has a fantastic, one-hour version with all the characters read by comedian/impersonator Jonathan Winters you could also enjoy. It’s found here on the NPR website.

  • Search YouTube for an age-appropriate and fun exercise video you can do as a family. You can find them for ages 2 to 90 and for any level of skill/strength/ability.

  • Play some online games together. You can find one of the best lists by doing a Google search for “Online Games Oprah Magazine” and finding the article there from April of this year. If you’re playing at home with your immediate family, we love the “Heads Up” phone game, and the “Exploding Kittens” card game.

  • Take some virtual museum tours. By doing a Google search, you can find links to tour the Smithsonian, the Vatican, the Louvre, the British Museum, NASA, The Air Force, many Zoos, and breathtaking offerings by the Nation Park Service.

  • Take a walk “together” while chatting on the phone—being careful to pay attention to traffic and obstacles underfoot 😊.

  • Send or share puzzles.

  • Send arts and crafts materials or kits.

  • Cook a meal together over Zoom or Facetime or Skype. Plan the menu together, prepare the meal, and then put your phone/tablet/computer at one end of the table and dine together. We do this every Sunday night with family, and it’s 99% as good as being in person, I promise. This can be a great way to have an older family member teach you a special recipe from your childhood.

  • Share pictures or a real-time video of decorating together; wrap presents together.

  • Offer to help an older family member buy gifts online.

  • Say prayers together. The All Saints Advent-in-a-Bag has several prayer resources, including Advent Wreath lighting prayers and a booklet with brief prayer litanies for each week of Advent (Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love). You can also check out the Prayers section of our website for Thanksgiving (and, soon, Advent) prayers.

  •  Attend on-line worship together. 

While the folks from the ‘Little House’ books may seem to be eons away from our time, I invite you to explore their commitment to coming together and celebrating as they were able, in small groups, sometimes snowed in their cabins, with our 2020 holidays that will be much the same.

Blessings and peace,

Fr. Keith

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