As if preparing your home for the holidays isn’t stressful enough, now we throw a pandemic on top of it! But despite this year’s challenges, there are still ways to safely host Thanksgiving according to Good Housekeeping.
- Experts recommend that you avoid going shopping before, on, or after Thanksgiving. This means making sure your menu is prepared ahead of time with grocery shopping done as soon as possible.
- Avoid participating in or being part of the crowd at big events such as Black Friday sales, sporting events or large parties or banquets.
- Keep your Thanksgiving celebration intimate and where possible, look for ways to introduce outdoor activities.
- Enjoy virtual holiday traditions. Using Zoom, families can still gather virtually with everyone enjoying the same favorite snacks while watching football games and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
- When visiting local attractions, look for activities that are outdoors, can be done in small groups, and don’t require public transportation. Using individual family cars, how about whipping up a batch of great hot chocolate and meeting friends and family for a drive through holiday light tours in select neighborhoods?
When hosting at home, consider these tips that incorporate social distancing and social responsibility:
- Thoroughly clean and sanitize your home before guests arrive. This includes frequently touched surfaces like bathrooms, soap dispensers, and doorknobs. Consider single use guest towels at bathroom and kitchen sinks.
- Assign overnight guests with their own bathroom and laundry basket for self-laundry service!
- Consider the ventilation in your home – Keep the fan running on the HVAC system, open windows and doors, and have fans circulating air towards intake vents.
- Set up a hand sanitizer station at the entrance of your home.
- Make that large dining room table work for you! Immediate family can be seated next to one another, but it would be ideal if others are seated six feet apart.
- Encourage masks for guests (and out of household family) during any point of the day when they are not eating or drinking.
- Go all out this year with your Thanksgiving table, but the CDC suggests embracing single-use utensils and disposable dishware to avoid the risk of handling potentially contaminated utensils, glassware, or dishes.
- Use place cards to identify where your guests should be seated.
- Make ahead favorite recipes in individual serving sized oven friendly bowls or individual sized soup tureens.
- Reduce risk by eliminating buffets, shared utensils, and DIY meal stations. Pre-plated and served plates will be best.
- Still planning on a buffet setting? Limit the number of guests at the buffet table to no more than 4, make sure they wear a mask, and have a hand sanitizer station set up at the entrance of your buffet area.
- Designate one person to handle the serving. This person should remain masked, use clean plates if second servings are desired, and be sure to sanitize hands before and after handling plates and utensils.
- Finally, if you or a loved one are planning on attending an out of home gathering, avoid events (prior to traveling or celebrations) where you may be exposed to COVID-19.
About Jayden Homes: Celebrating over three decades in Colorado Springs, second-generation Jayden Homes, builds award-winning homes (and award-winning relationships) in El Paso, Elbert, and Douglas counties. A quality conscious Colorado Springs custom home builder with an emphasis on establishing a close working partnership with our clients, Jayden Homes is dedicated to providing an extraordinary home building experience with a well-thought-out process that allows for less waste and a more efficient method to the construction of your custom home. Building a custom home in Colorado Springs is a life event! Accredited by the Better Business Bureau and active members of the Housing and Building Association, we believe that communication and education are the keys to a successful home building relationship with our clients. From selection of your homesite to placement of your home to design and construction, Jayden Homes will walk hand-in-hand with you to provide you with a home worthy of our mantra, “New Memories Coming Soon!”
