Thanksgiving Celebrations

Thanksgiving is truly a family affair. When you picture your Thanksgiving holiday you may be envisioning family and friends gathering happily around your table, dressed in their Sunday best, happy and grateful for all the work you have done to put together a beautiful Thanksgiving feast. While this may be the happy picture you envision, too often the reality is of bored and unhappy children running through the house with nothing to do but complain and whine to you until dinner is done. If you want to avoid this scenario on Thanksgiving, planning is the key. Involving your kids in the preparation and the activities of Thanksgiving can help reduce the stress (and the tattle-telling) and give you all something to be thankful for. Here are some tips for involving your kids in Thanksgiving-

· Early planning is crucial! The first step is to gather your family together at least two weeks before Thanksgiving. Explain in clear and understandable terms that this is a family holiday that all of you will be a part of doing. At this family meeting is the time to assess abilities and get a sense of what your kids want to do to help you prepare for the big day. It is important to note though that in order to accept help you must be able to relinquish some control.

· Make lists and assign jobs! After your initial meeting you can then make lists and assign jobs based on abilities and willingness. Your teenage daughter may love ordering the centerpiece and being responsible for picking it up. Better yet your artistic tweens and teens can be put in charge of coming up with something for a centerpiece. Offer to pick up the tab (within reason) for anything they need from the craft store and you may be surprised at their willingness. Younger children can help with pre-cleaning, setting the table and doing simple jobs in the kitchen.

· Utilize your workforce! When the big day arrives have additional jobs for everyone to do. Your bossy teenager may just be the one to put in charge of the timeline. He or she can make sure all the jobs are done on time and the food is brought to the table in an organized way. Younger children can stir, chop vegetables or perform other tasks in the kitchen. If you are offering appetizers before dinner (perhaps while the big game is on) have one child be responsible for serving and refilling.

· Plan for down time! The whole day is not just about the cooking. One of the best ways to avoid bored and unhappy kids is to have some craft projects on hand for before and after dinner. The key to this being successful is to have all the materials on hand and organized. In addition, if you are needed in the kitchen, have another adult available for supervision so there are no glue gun mishaps while you dash to the kitchen to check on the turkey. After dinner lay out a spread of Thanksgiving themed sugar cookies complete with frostings and sprinkles and let the kids design their own dessert.

· Plan for fun! Too often kids become bored and destructive not out of maliciousness but because they simply do not know what to do to fill their time. Having some games, activities and fun planned eliminates this problem and leaves you with a much happier Thanksgiving Day. The key again is planning-don’t wait until the day to try and come up with something to keep the kids happy. Organizing a nature walk to look for leaves or an outside scavenger hunt can give you some peace and quiet while you put the finishing touches on dinner. If outdoors isn’t possible than have a special movie that all the kids will enjoy and hopefully have not seen ready to go when the moment is right. Whatever you do making your kids a part of Thanksgiving can really show you what one of your greatest blessings really is-them.