Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday.  We don't exchange gifts we only get together to give thanks and share a meal.  It's fantastic.

Oftentimes though we hear of stressful and hectic holidays filled with unmet expectations and overbearing Mothers-in-law.

But it doesn't have to be that way.

It can be, as advertised, a day to give thanks.

One thing we have done to keep things calm is to write it all down.  Years (and years) ago we were looking at hosting Thanksgiving dinner at our house for the first time.  We had our new family Thanksgiving traditions that we thought were a perfect blend of traditions from my side of the family and from my husbands.  But now we were bringing those two sides together and we feared a shift in the space time continuum.  So, my husband did a brilliant thing.  He sent out the menu in advance.  If mothers-in-law wanted to give their input they could do it before Thanksgiving but on that day there was going to be no discussion about what was being served.

YAMS

That's literally what it boiled down to.  He doesn't like Yams.  Yams, or Sweet Potatoes, had always been served in both of our households growing up but this is our house now and he had decided that he really didn't want yams served.

My mother campaigned to have peas included on the menu and there were no objections.  When Thanksgiving rolled around that year everyone had a great time.  If my mother or my husbands mother had any negative feelings about what was going on they kept those to themselves.

Since that wonderful Thanksgiving we have kept to the list.  It has made for a Thanksgiving that we can be truly thankful for.

Stay at Home Mom Tip: elementary school age kids can get super excited about Thanksgiving.  They have the day off and relatives visiting.  It is good to have a variety of games and activities lined up for them that you can easily direct so that you can foucs on the cooking and the visitors etc.

Here is a fun Thanksgiving WORDSEARCH from our friends at ZiggityZoom.  Print this off for all the little ones and let them find the words and color the turkey.

Have a blessed day.


I love yams but I am happy to leave them off the Thanksgiving day menu.  But if you love yams you may want to try this recipe from the City of Portland.