Kinda blue about Thanksgiving this year... (LONG!)

Hey everyone
Geez, I haven't been on the good ol NWR board in quite some time! Wanted to drop in again and say HI everyone first of all! Golem's been a handful and work has been just as crazy, so LIW time has been down big time for me lately!

Well, it's almost that time of year again, and to be honest - I'm just a little bummed this year :( I've spent every single Thansgiving with my Mom at her house in NJ and she invites our whole family, makes theis HUGE meal and we all bring desserts (last year I made a Bailey's Irish Cream Cheescake - YUMMY!) My best friends both usually stop by too - it's a tradition that we all meet up for desserts and we've done this evey year for as long as I can remember. It's really one of the nicest holidays and I look forward to it every year. So this year is different bc it's the first time ever that we won't be at my mom's for Thanksgiving. Golem is not fully vaccinated yet, and my mom's house unfortunately does not have a fenced in yard - it's completely open. There's a TON of pets in her neighborhood that just wander freely using everyone's lawns as their personal potty spots! ..... That on top of our vet's strict warning about not letting him outside our backyard (aside from other healthy pets' backyards) until he's fully vaccinated kind of makes it impossible for us to bring him with us to my Mom's (She's also a 2 hour drive to NJ with the holiday traffic). We really can't just leave him home either - all day is way too long for him to be in the crate and he's not vaccinated enough to go to a kennel for the day (we wouldn't do that anyway)

So we'll be home this year, inviting the in-laws over but that's about it for Thanksgiving. I'm going to make the best of the change by having a wonderful holiday dinner with my in-laws since this will be our first Thansgiving with them too! :) At the same time, I'm just kinda bummed that I'm going to miss out on the holiday dinner with my family and friends - but there's no way around it right now. We tried to think of eveything, but aside from having everyone come all the way out to us and having almost 15 people in the house at once, we have no other choice than to stay home. Dinner at our place would be way too overwhelming I think too - with all the bustling about and no one to really keep a close eye on him with so much going on, Golem would have to be in the crate the whole time.

So I just needed to get that off my chest... Craig and I are just keeping Golem's best interest in mind - he's so vulnerable now at this early age and we refuse to take any kind of risks with him, it's just not worth it and we don't want to get our dog sick. Did any of you go through this with your new baby pets and the holidays? I feel like I can't possibly be the only one who's gone through this :) I'd love to hear how anyone else dealt with this situation. Thanks for listening everyone!!!

Oh sweetie, I know the feeling.

This Thanksgiving will be the first I don't spend with family and friends - it will just be DH and me. We don't live anywhere near any of our loved ones, so no one will be dropping by. I almost hope my parents don't call and wish us a happy thanksgiving, because I'm pretty sure I'll just end up crying.

Sorry if that sounds pathetic...I'm just really missing my family right now.

I'm sorry you feel so blue, Helena! You are doing the right thing for Golem.

You are a good furbaby mommy and this shows you will be a great human mommy someday too (no pressure). Sometimes when parents have newborns, they choose not to go out for xmas because it is too cold for the infant. This is a very responsible thing to do, although I can only imagine how difficult it is.


Maybe you should make a dessert and send it to your mom. Then call her when they are eating dessert.

Hang in there. We are all getting used to this marriage and responsibility thing!

Helena!

First off 's..

I know it's disappointing to miss out on family traditions and all the fun that entails, but this is the downside of being a new pet mommy (or real mommy). Look at this holiday as an opportunity to focus on entertaining in your beautiful new home w/your 'new' family (Craig and Golem). And next year when he's bigger and easier to travel with, think how much more you'll appreciate the visit because you missed it this year. Unfortunately these 'babies' whether they are human or pet need flexibility and compromise to get them through the early years. I think it's great you are not being selfish and you're putting his needs first for the holidays. It shows what a great doggie mommy you are!

You are all so wonderful - I feel like crying everytime bc your replies are always so warm and caring!!

Thank you ladies, for reassuring me that we ARE doign the right thing! :) Giolem IS our newborn right now, he's only 2 months old! He won't always be so high maintenance, and I can't waiting until we're able to bing him all over the palce with us! In the mantime though - know in my heart we are doing the right thing for our pup, but some people actually tell me I'm nuts for doing things like this! LOL - and on the baby note Juliet - EVERYONE keeps telling me that by the time we have children, I'm going to be amazing bc of all the work we've done with Golem! Almost makes me want to start trying now!

Thanks so much, you make me feel so much better with your kind words! I lvoe the idea of making omethign and having it sent to Mom on Thansgiving - what a nice idea!!!! I'm going to try that and see how it comes out! I love you guys!!!