Where Do You Eat Thanksgiving Dinner?
Categories: Holidays, In the news
Last year, the Automobile Association of America found that of 2,000 people surveyed, 43 percent traveled over the Thanksgiving holiday, and of that number, 71 percent traveled with children. Don't believe it? Just hang out at O'Hare International Airport next Wednesday. It's like the evacuation of Saigon.And get this -- 44 percent of all travelers had an annual income of $40,000 or less. What does that mean? My guess is that more folks will travel by road than by air, considering the high price of plane tickets -- folks like me.
I start getting anxiety headaches in October, because I know come November we'll drive more than 1,400 miles to eat turkey with my husband's father and grandparents, and my mother and sister. Yes, we eat twice.
And yes, we are insane. Personally, I hate it. I've come to loathe even the idea of November, and just wait until I tell you what we do at Christmas. My favorite month of the year?
January.
But how else do you do it? There's a divorce involved, so we already skip seeing one branch of the family tree. Toss in the fact that my mom is a widower and my husband's grandparents are elderly, and the pressure for us to visit for this traditionally family-oriented holiday is huge.
So we cave. If you see a silver minivan traveling east on the New York State Thruway on Thanksgiving Day, it's me.
What do you do? How do you decide? And when did you put your foot down and start your own traditions at home, without your family of origin?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ame s 11-17-2008 @ 3:12PM
My late-husband and our 2 daughters would travel to my parents, only a 45 minute drive.
After my husband passed away, my parents and brother moved to my town into an apartment. I re-married a year ago. My new husband's parents and sister live nearby.
We've hosted Thanksgiving for the past 3 years because we didn't want to do the traveling to 2 different households. My FOL and his FOL, along with a couple of my aunts and their children/grandchildren all come to our house.
It could be stressful, but isn't. Our biggest problem is having too much food, which is remedied by plenty of take-home containers to send along when they all leave.
The kitchen and dining room tables are usually taken by adults. Kids like to eat in the living room on tv trays or just sit around the coffee table.
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Jenni 11-17-2008 @ 3:32PM
Our rule is simple, we don't travel during the holidays. If you want to see us, then you are more than welcome to come buy; we'll even provide food.
But, we do our traveling and visiting throughout the year in small settings. This is really in thoughts of the children and adults involved. We know that some of the children we are related to can't handle loud, noisy situations; so everyone enjoys the visits on a smaller scale.
This year we are renting a community room for all the people visiting; I expect there to be lots of noise and tears (from the children AND adults). It's not my ideal, but family situations have caused us to relax the rule for this year only; and we are only going 30 minutes away.
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rebecca Biernesser 11-17-2008 @ 4:59PM
We normally send the holidays with my side of the family, since we are closer to them. Normally, we all head to my moms or if they are out of town b/c of issues, then we go to my sister in laws mom's house. Last year we did that...
This year, I am taking the kids to my mom's house this coming Saturday (4 hours away) and then on Wednesday we are traveling three hours to meet my husband and the rest of the family at my aunt's house and Thanksgiving night (my family, brothers family, and mom) are going to my house (1 hour) to get ready for Black Friday shopping and other various activities.
And that's just Thanksgiving...Christmas SHOULD be a lot less traveling, but we will go 4 hours....
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thegoddessanna 11-17-2008 @ 5:39PM
We do not travel for Thanksgiving. We stay home, and have our own special meal, and our folks know they are invited. Nobody comes, though, because we refuse to make the "traditional" holiday meal - we do gourmet fondue instead. Like this year, my husband got me the Melting Pot cookbook, and we're doing an Asian-inspired 4-course dinner, and for the kids, we're making tacos. There is only one person in our household that even will eat turkey (hubby), and I'd rather cook food that'll we'll enjoy and eat than waste food, time, and effort elsewhere. Hence, the tacos for the kids (their favorite dish).
I'd rather the family travel to us (they don't), because with 3 small children (5, 3 & 3), it's hard for us to do the several-hours long trip. Nobody bothers, though, for reasons I won't get into here. Thanksgiving is the one holiday where we've put our feet down, though, so we're home alone every November. : )
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Karen 11-17-2008 @ 8:35PM
We camp at Disney every year for Thanksgiving. We don't do the parks. We just camp and hang out at the campground. We visit some of the hotels for Christmas decorations, and sit by the beach and read, ride bikes, relax, etc.
This may be our last year as we are scheduled to move next summer (to who knows where). It is my favorite holiday. Anyone can join us that wants to, but only my brother does. Usually a friend from Tampa area comes over to spend the day. It is nice.
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Maureen 11-17-2008 @ 11:20PM
I love to be around my big family at the holidays. I think I would travel a great distance to be with them at Thanksgiving, but I'm lucky in that the furthest we have to travel is about 90 minutes. We rotate houses, and that works out quite well. I couldn't imagine not being around the masses of relatives, the warm kitchens and the laughter of all the cousins together.
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Bonnie Smith 11-18-2008 @ 12:16AM
We have Thanksgiving at our home in the mountains . The kids
come from the city and love to be up here with the deer, and
wild turkey's roaming. Nope, we buy our turkey! we don't
catch one. Football is played, frisbee, and I always make the
traditional Thanksgiving dinner. The guys watch football. It is
just great being together.
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Shelly Scholz 11-18-2008 @ 12:38AM
Personally, I spend Thanksgiving day home alone, usually working on a project or some housework. My ex only celebrated one holiday (Thanksgiving) and therefore the judge only gave him the one holiday. I get plenty of invites, but its just not the same dining with someone else's family while my family celebrates elsewhere. However, there are so many people out there who would LOVE to have a place to go for Thanksgiving and some years I have hosted them and I recommend it to anyone celebrating the holiday. Look around you, know your neighbors, ask your priest/pastor if they know someone in need of companionship and compassion to help them digest their turkey.........you'll be more blessed than they will:)
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