Taking the Kids: Gathering for the holidays
No drama! Is that possible when the family is gathering for the holidays? It's hard enough when you are gathering at someone's home (or yours!) and you have the stress of keeping guests happy -- or being a guest. (Can the kids manage to not spill anything on the white couch?)
It can be worse when everyone has high expectations for the long-planned holiday vacation that is supposed to be so much more fun than crowding into grandma's house.
Gulp! Why is your teen sulking on a cruise ship with so much to do, not to mention 1,000 kids onboard? Why is your 3-year-old niece having a temper tantrum in the middle of the Magic Kingdom? Why is your spouse acting so aggrieved? (Too much family, perhaps?)
According to AAA, more people will be traveling over Thanksgiving -- 54.3 million, the most since 2005. But they aren't all heading to a relative's house -- not by a long shot. Orlando is the number one destination this Thanksgiving followed by New York, Anaheim, Punta Cana and Las Vegas.
OK, everyone. Take a deep breath. Family is family whether you are in Orlando (where the holidays incidentally, are celebrated for 59 days) on the ski slopes (Keystone and Breckenridge in Colorado are among the resorts opening early this season) on a cruise ship (where the special holiday meal is prepared and served by someone else and an always smiling steward is there to clean up after the kids) or around an overcrowded holiday table celebrating as you always have.
Of course, you can mix it up. Here are a few tips on how.
-- Try something a little different. Rather than a kids' table this year, my sister-in-law suggested a table for the guys (let them talk football!) and one for the women. I think that's a fun idea!
Buy some butcher block paper and markers and let the kids decorate "the table cloths." No need to launder and iron those cloths before -- or afterward.
Have the fixings on hand and invite the kids to prepare an (easy) dish together. Invite the teens to supervise!
Just one caveat, maybe two:
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