What's weird about where you are staying - Thanksgiving 2024 edition

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My ILs don’t make enough food and my SIL and BIL don’t notice so they eat a ton and I’lm left saying “one pancake is plenty.”

This is your mistake. Get in there and get your fill. Let the chips fall where they may.

No. I try and make sure the 3 grandkids get fed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The red container in the basement freezer is full of dead chipmunks captured by shop vacs on previous Thanksgivings.

Oh, I hope so!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh, the Midwest garage food really brings me back. This is one of my mother’s tried and true practices. (No, we don’t visit for holidays anymore.) These garage food people need to change their ways given how the climate has changed in the past 30-40 years.

I’m in Wisconsin and it’s 29 degrees. I have confidence in our garage food

I was counting down waiting for WI and MN to chime in. Confess to something else weird, since the garage secret is out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a twist on this thread. How about clueless house guests? I’m hosting SIL and she arrived over the weekend for an 8 day stay. We have had numerous discussions and conflicts in the past about how disruptive her visits are to the kids sleep. Both kids have sleep disorders and my biggest stressor in life is getting my youngest to sleep and ensuring she gets the maximum sleep possible. My husband and I were looking forward to sleeping in Saturday morning (only day for the next week) and was woken up at 6:40am to giggling and screaming laughter from SIL and daughter together in the next room. SIL seemed confused when husband went in and asked them to be quiet and asking why daughter was awake. My son woke up moments later. I couldn’t fall asleep after that. Daughter was up almost 2 hours earlier than a normal Saturday. And his family wonders why visits are so exhausting!

If your kids have sleep disorders you should offer to pay for a hotel for your visitors, you really just should not have overnight guests.

Not PP you were talking to, but my son has a sleep disorder, untreatable sleep apnea. It's NOT a joke. It will shorten his life, make him more liable to develop dementia, and worsens his existing ADHD and daily capabilities. No one should scoff at such medical troubles.

Why would I pay for hotels for guests? Our house is too small for guests. We see each other at non-Holiday times, that's all.

I’m not “scoffing,” I’m saying that if there’s a problem with guests, you should prioritize the health of the people who live in the house, and not have guests!

Sounds like you live close to your family; how nice. Some of us don’t and don’t get the chance to see each other very often. So yes, if they buy plane tickets and rent a car the least I can do is entertain them and pay for a few nights in a hotel to protect my kids’ health.

Again, no one is “scoffing,” so consider stop being so knee-jerk defensive.

DP, a m not paying for guests’ hotel rooms.
Pay for your own hotel.
You can either stay at my house or you can’t.
I don’t expect people to pay for my hotel. Are you nuts?

Generally I would not pay for a hotel for my guests....BUT, if I am so neurotic that my daughter giggling with her aunt early in the morning is going to send me into a tailspin, such that I don't want my SIL in my home, I'd pony up for the hotel. (But what I should really do is get a therapist to deal with my serious anxiety).

To that PP, I understand the stress of managing a child with a health condition, but if you truly cannot handle your daughter infrequently getting less than ten hours of sleep, get some help on this. Life happens.

Let me clarify a few things. I live in a 7000 square foot home. There are plenty of places for guests to go in my home to talk and do whatever they please. I was not upset about giggling. I was upset about ridiculously loud laughter from my SIL that woke me up out of a dead sleep while it was still dark outside. It was so loud, it woke everyone up, including my husband and son. My husband was equally as pissed. We have guests probably every month and no other guest has ever done this. They quietly go downstairs if they are up early and can talk on the main floor. It’s called manners.

She visits 3-4 times a year and it happens every time she is here. 8 day visits are a compromise because had I not set that boundary, she would come for 2-3 weeks. Believe me, 8 days of a sleep exhausted kid is not fun. We want to see my SIL and host her but just wish we could minimize sleep disruptions to the kids. I’m already letting the kids go to bed later so they have more time together in the evenings. I’m not trying to crush their fun. Just trying to ensure my kid can function at school. Her tiredness at school is so bad we are considering a low dose stimulant to help her stay awake. Sorry you think I’m so nuts. I don’t think it’s too much to ask that guests are mindful of the kids sleep schedule when you are hosting them for over a week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a twist on this thread. How about clueless house guests? I’m hosting SIL and she arrived over the weekend for an 8 day stay. We have had numerous discussions and conflicts in the past about how disruptive her visits are to the kids sleep. Both kids have sleep disorders and my biggest stressor in life is getting my youngest to sleep and ensuring she gets the maximum sleep possible. My husband and I were looking forward to sleeping in Saturday morning (only day for the next week) and was woken up at 6:40am to giggling and screaming laughter from SIL and daughter together in the next room. SIL seemed confused when husband went in and asked them to be quiet and asking why daughter was awake. My son woke up moments later. I couldn’t fall asleep after that. Daughter was up almost 2 hours earlier than a normal Saturday. And his family wonders why visits are so exhausting!

If your kids have sleep disorders you should offer to pay for a hotel for your visitors, you really just should not have overnight guests.

Not PP you were talking to, but my son has a sleep disorder, untreatable sleep apnea. It's NOT a joke. It will shorten his life, make him more liable to develop dementia, and worsens his existing ADHD and daily capabilities. No one should scoff at such medical troubles.

Why would I pay for hotels for guests? Our house is too small for guests. We see each other at non-Holiday times, that's all.

I’m not “scoffing,” I’m saying that if there’s a problem with guests, you should prioritize the health of the people who live in the house, and not have guests!

Sounds like you live close to your family; how nice. Some of us don’t and don’t get the chance to see each other very often. So yes, if they buy plane tickets and rent a car the least I can do is entertain them and pay for a few nights in a hotel to protect my kids’ health.

Again, no one is “scoffing,” so consider stop being so knee-jerk defensive.

DP, a m not paying for guests’ hotel rooms.
Pay for your own hotel.
You can either stay at my house or you can’t.
I don’t expect people to pay for my hotel. Are you nuts?

Generally I would not pay for a hotel for my guests....BUT, if I am so neurotic that my daughter giggling with her aunt early in the morning is going to send me into a tailspin, such that I don't want my SIL in my home, I'd pony up for the hotel. (But what I should really do is get a therapist to deal with my serious anxiety).

To that PP, I understand the stress of managing a child with a health condition, but if you truly cannot handle your daughter infrequently getting less than ten hours of sleep, get some help on this. Life happens.

Let me clarify a few things. I live in a 7000 square foot home. There are plenty of places for guests to go in my home to talk and do whatever they please. I was not upset about giggling. I was upset about ridiculously loud laughter from my SIL that woke me up out of a dead sleep while it was still dark outside. It was so loud, it woke everyone up, including my husband and son. My husband was equally as pissed. We have guests probably every month and no other guest has ever done this. They quietly go downstairs if they are up early and can talk on the main floor. It’s called manners.

She visits 3-4 times a year and it happens every time she is here. 8 day visits are a compromise because had I not set that boundary, she would come for 2-3 weeks. Believe me, 8 days of a sleep exhausted kid is not fun. We want to see my SIL and host her but just wish we could minimize sleep disruptions to the kids. I’m already letting the kids go to bed later so they have more time together in the evenings. I’m not trying to crush their fun. Just trying to ensure my kid can function at school. Her tiredness at school is so bad we are considering a low dose stimulant to help her stay awake. Sorry you think I’m so nuts. I don’t think it’s too much to ask that guests are mindful of the kids sleep schedule when you are hosting them for over a week.

These people are CRAZY! There's nothing wrong with making sure a young kid with sleep apnea sleeps!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I read this entire thread to find out what was in the red container in the basement fridge…

Pureed beets from the pristine organic garden that pp tends. They were raised with love and positivity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My MIL will precook broccoli in the morning because it “takes too long to cook” at a mealtime. She will then reheat it when it’s time to eat. Also food safety means nothing. Meat left on the counter for hours is a common occurrence. I won’t eat what she makes. Luckily we are at our house this year so no issues.

One of my favorite things here is the never ending bottle of salad dressing. Some years ago they bought a bottle of strawberry vinaigrette. They just keep adding vinegar, oil, whatever to the bottle and shaking it. That bottle is at least three years old and to my knowledge it has never been washed. Pretty much if it was cooked in or sourced from this house, and you didn’t witness it being opened in a reasonable timeframe you are taking your life into your hands if you eat it.

Living at the intersection of this and the oldest spices in the world, my mom has had the same bottle of Vanilla Extract since I was a child. She just keeps adding alcohol to it, so now it's just a bottle of vodka.

This will be DH to our kids and their families some day. Back in the Clinton administration, I ran out of a spice while cooking. DH ran down to the corner bodega, but all they had was a giant, industrial kitchen-sized container. He bought it anyway, carted it home, and ruefully proclaimed that this thing would outlast our then-new marriage.

At the time, I laughed and agreed with him. But so far I have refilled the container twice. I’m not taking any chances.

[Anonymous]

My in-laws were the type of people who just left food out on the porch or in the garage, until a bear moved into their yard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The red container in the basement freezer is full of dead chipmunks captured by shop vacs on previous Thanksgivings.

You win! 🥇

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh, the Midwest garage food really brings me back. This is one of my mother’s tried and true practices. (No, we don’t visit for holidays anymore.) These garage food people need to change their ways given how the climate has changed in the past 30-40 years.

I’m in Wisconsin and it’s 29 degrees. I have confidence in our garage food

I was counting down waiting for WI and MN to chime in. Confess to something else weird, since the garage secret is out.

There are two of us now known to be in WI. I’m the one sleeping in a little tykes fireman twin bed in the basement with H and youngest kid. It is 27 here and it will be 27 forever until night when it’s in the teens. The moisture makes it feel at least 30 degrees colder. I’m living on things with a lot of preservatives and in their original packaging.

The chipmunk disappeared (probably because shop vacs are really loud and chipmunks can squeeze into tiny spaces). Hope it doesn’t die in the walls. The Cask of Northern Wisconsin.

You want more weirdness than the refrozen Turkey, never ending salad dressing, polar events, and the chipmunk? Tomorrow I only have to make one thing. My “special” potatoes. These are not my potatoes and there is nothing special about them. They are Mormon Funeral Potatoes but these extended ILs think they are the most amazing thing in the world. I stole my secret recipe from the LDS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mom proudly told me on Monday that she just finished cooking the turkey so she can re-heat it for us Thursday.

This right here is the kind of wacky I love finding buried in these threads among the house too cold/too hot, garbage police, and nobody is allowed to eat posts!

PP here and thank you! If it helps, my mom also covers every bed with heavy, damask, cord-riddled bed-in-a-bag bedding that is heavy and oppressively uncomfortable.

I remember you!

[Anonymous]

My mil, now deceased, "upgraded" the bedding in their lake cabin. They went from old worn 1970s sheets (in avocado green stripes and baby-poop yellow/pink floral) to Dollar General sheets. The new sheets were so rough that I was actually getting abrasions on my skin. Next visit and every visit after, I dug through the closet and found the ugly, wonderful, soft, cool outdated sheets, and changed the bedding. She was offended the first time but eventually found it funny and said she would leave them to me in her will.

Sadly when she died, FIL threw out everything he deemed junk. I can't blame him but I was a little sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh, the Midwest garage food really brings me back. This is one of my mother’s tried and true practices. (No, we don’t visit for holidays anymore.) These garage food people need to change their ways given how the climate has changed in the past 30-40 years.

I’m in Wisconsin and it’s 29 degrees. I have confidence in our garage food

I was counting down waiting for WI and MN to chime in. Confess to something else weird, since the garage secret is out.

There are two of us now known to be in WI. I’m the one sleeping in a little tykes fireman twin bed in the basement with H and youngest kid. It is 27 here and it will be 27 forever until night when it’s in the teens. The moisture makes it feel at least 30 degrees colder. I’m living on things with a lot of preservatives and in their original packaging.

The chipmunk disappeared (probably because shop vacs are really loud and chipmunks can squeeze into tiny spaces). Hope it doesn’t die in the walls. The Cask of Northern Wisconsin.

You want more weirdness than the refrozen Turkey, never ending salad dressing, polar events, and the chipmunk? Tomorrow I only have to make one thing. My “special” potatoes. These are not my potatoes and there is nothing special about them. They are Mormon Funeral Potatoes but these extended ILs think they are the most amazing thing in the world. I stole my secret recipe from the LDS.

Please keep posting! Even if, hopefully, tomorrow is less weird where you are, I want to hear your take on things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The red container in the basement freezer is full of dead chipmunks captured by shop vacs on previous Thanksgivings.

[Anonymous]

I didn’t price together that all 50% of this thread was Wisconsin PP #1. God bless you on your magical Thanksgiving journey, WI PP #1. Please keep the updates going and pour one out for our chipmunk friend.