Holidays are meant to be a break, a time when work and school go on the back burner, teams and clubs have a lull in the schedule (sometimes), families relax and enjoy extra time with the ones they love most. But we all know that holidays more often turn into stress-filled days trying to make everyone happy and counting down the minutes until you can go back to your normal 9 to 5.

This Thanksgiving, make sure you have at least one meaningful (and enjoyable!) moment with your kids. Block out a few hours or a whole day to enjoy age-old family traditions or make new ones with some of our favorite (and simple!) Thanksgiving ideas:

THANKSGIVING SCRAPBOOK. Have your kid pick their favorite family photo from this past year. Paste it to the middle of a scrapbook page and have each family member write what they are most thankful for around the photo. Continue the tradition next year (and the next) by adding one page/photo a year!

THANKSGIVING PUMPKIN. On November 1, place a pumpkin and a Sharpie® marker in the middle of your dinner table. Throughout the month, encourage your family members to write the things they are most thankful for on the pumpkin.

THANKSGIVING TRIAL-RUN. If your last Thursday of November will be a hectic gathering of second cousins and great aunts, plan a mini-feast with just your immediate family on the first Thursday of the month! Have your kid(s) help out in the kitchen as you make smaller portions of your favorite Thanksgiving foods. Don’t forget the pie!

BRANCH OUT. If you are too far from your extended family to celebrate the big day together, make your Thanksgiving extra special by inviting others to join you. Local college students, an elderly neighbor, or even another family you know who is far from extended family are all people who might be needing a big feast.

TURKEY TROT. Many communities have a local fun run on Thanksgiving morning. It’s a great way to get outside and active during a time of year you might usually be confined indoors. If you don’t have a local Turkey Trot, organize one in your neighborhood. Don’t forget to bundle up and stretch!

Sometimes it takes another voice to say the same things you are saying to your kid(s) about the most important things in life—just in a different way. That’s what we call “widening the circle.” So, how do you widen your family circle?

Summarized from this article on parentcue.org

1. Think about the adults who are already in your child’s life. If your child won’t talk to you about something, who do you want them to talk to? If your child is in middle school or high school, ask them who they would talk to. Write this person’s name down. It could be a teacher, a family friend, an aunt, a neighbor. Just make sure that the person shares the same vaule as your family does.

2. Invite people that you admire or want to get to know better into your family circle. You can do this by inviting them to dinner, volunteering at school or with your child’s sport’s team.

3. Appreciate and invest in those in your circle.

Encourage them with words like: “How can I pray for you?” “How can I make this relationship easier for you?” “Is there anything I can do to support you better?”

Do something thoughtful, communicate, say thank you, invite them over and build the relationship.

How do you encourage those in your circle? We’d love to hear more!

I saw a meme or post or something that said, ‘stop comparing your b reel to her highlight reel.’ That really resonated with me. Comparing our everyday reality to someone’s carefully chosen posts on Instagram or Facebook can be discouraging. If you’ve ever felt like like you are not doing enough as a parent or that you are not as good as another parent, we suggest reading this post by Brianna Bell at the New York Times.

Katherine Reynolds Lewis, a certified parent educator and author of “The Good News About Bad Behavior” contends that self-compassion is an important trait to exhibit as a parent. “Accept yourself and appreciate the way that you are and what that brings for your children,” she said. “Because if you don’t accept and love yourself, it’s harder to accept and love your kids when they’re flawed and imperfect.”