Thanksgiving Celebrations

As eagerly as most people look forward to Thanksgiving it can be a stressful time if your family is coming from near and far to be together. Holidays can be stressful as families share close quarters and the talk may turn to topics that are emotional and difficult. And even if your family does not share an emotional past, simply having too many cooks in the kitchen can cause conflict. If you want to host a picturesque Thanksgiving but worry about bringing parents, siblings, in-laws and other kids into the mix there are some ways to help deal with the stress. Planning ahead is key and makes the difference between a fairly smooth holiday or a debacle. So before you start planning your Thanksgiving menu here are some tips for dealing with family at Thanksgiving-

· Set the ground rules! If there is a particular topic (or topics) that you may know causes conflict between family members, simply state the obvious and get it over with. Let everyone know you do not want discussion of Sally’s divorce, or Joe’s job or Grandpa’s politics to be a part of the Thanksgiving celebration. Anyone who cannot abide by the rules is welcome to stay home!

· Plan ahead for meals. If you are one of the lucky few who has a gigantic kitchen that can accommodate multiple cooks than skip ahead to the next tip. For everyone else most kitchens have their space limitation. Be sure to ask nearby relatives and friends who are attending Thanksgiving to please prepare their food assignment as much as possible at home. Explain that you are limited on room and the oven, stovetop or fridge may not be available when they want it to be. For anyone coming from further away you may want to ask for help with items that can simply be bought and transported.

· Plan ahead for down time. One of the biggest problems with large Thanksgiving gatherings is that there can be a lot of down time waiting for dinner to be finished. Be sure to have some activities (an outside football game, board games, or even a walking tour of your town) planned to eliminate all that standing around. This also helps keep people from delving into topics that are best left to a non-holiday time.

· Think about the kids. Do you find that as soon as other kids invade your kid’s space they turn into whiny, tattle-telling brats that you don’t even recognize? You can plan ahead to avoid this by having your kids choose some special toys that they do not have to share ever. Place them in a box, up high on a shelf anywhere that they are out of the reach of the visiting kids. Next, having some fun craft activities ready to go for the kids helps cut down on the teasing, running and rough housing that can occur when kids are bored. Finally lay down the law with your kids; remind them that the visiting kids are your guests and only there for a short amount of time. Enlist their help in keeping the peace even if it means bribing them with an after Thanksgiving fun outing.

· Handle the houseguests. If hosting Thanksgiving means that you will be having family stay a few days with you then planning becomes critical. Make sure that you carefully extend whatever invitation you feel appropriate to your visiting family. Helping them understand when you expect them to arrive, how long you expect them to stay and when they will be leaving is key to keeping everyone on the same page and happy. Also with the big meal being the centerpiece of the Thanksgiving weekend this is not the time to home cook every meal from scratch. Let your guests know that you may going out for pizza, bringing in bagels for breakfast or even leaving some meals up to everyone’s discretion. This way your guests do not expect that you will be tied to the kitchen cooking them three meals a day all weekend. In addition it is also helpful to have some activities planned for you guests. Have someone give them a tour of your town, show them the great shopping or other tourist attractions. This way everyone has fun, has a little break and can still have truly a lot to be thankful for.