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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The time to go places early keeps increasing. To see Christmas lights, told to be ready at 6, but head of house pulled out of garage and started honking for everyone to get in at 5:30. Today going to eat at restaurant at 5:30 and just told by one will leave at 5:00 and other says 4:30. The restaurant is less than 10 minutes away, they have reservation and have only ever seen us in restaurant before 6:30. We’ve taken to just being “ready” all day.

My late dad would have been in the driveway warming up the car at 4:00 and my ILs would be standing in the foyer wearing shoes and coats by 4:15. I think it’s an anxiety thing. And then the other side of the family does doorway goodbyes that last for 90 minutes. So you really only have 2-4 hours of actual usable time.

Haha yes. My DH is like this and it is an anxiety thing. His dad is the same way.

[Anonymous]

My husband does long good byes. Knowing this, and since it was late and we were last remaining guests, I put on my jacket and plopped down on a couch to watch football (when my husband said it was time to go). 30 minutes later my husband is saying "hey it's late we really need to get home kids are getting cranky come on wheres your coat..." Directed at me. I asked if he was ready, "yes I said we were leaving 30 minutes ago." So I got up, got the kids to the front door and guess what? We stood there for 20 more minutes while dh talked to people.

There's no way to beat the long-goodbye people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cereal for breakfast. Do not know when any other food is happening.

You expect a cooked breakfast on Thanksgiving? You are the problem. Forage.

+1

What’s wrong with cereal, on Thanksgiving of all days? Reminds me of the poster who wanted to disrupt her host’s Thanksgiving prep to cook a full hot breakfast for her “adult boys” because they’d simply wither away if they ate a bagel.

Haha omg I remember this! Weirdest thing ever

[Anonymous]

Ketchup on the dinner table expired in 2012. This is innocuous compared to the other vile bullshit. Never again. These people are multimillionaires, btw, before you think it's financially related.

[Anonymous]

Cousin spent last 2 days in room only coming out for meals and to walk into a room to ask, “Why were you talking about me?” Asked every time cousin enters room. Not a single time is cousin being talked about. She enters and asks. Family says no, not at all. Cousin stomps off. Repeat. Cannot wait to leave.

[Anonymous]

My FIL is a nice guy but his feet stink so bad it gave me a headache today. He was in socks. This is the upper Midwest and it’s common to remove shoes inside. I could smell the feet from the next room and opened a window even though it was like 20 degrees outside.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cereal for breakfast. Do not know when any other food is happening.

You expect a cooked breakfast on Thanksgiving? You are the problem. Forage.

+1

What’s wrong with cereal, on Thanksgiving of all days? Reminds me of the poster who wanted to disrupt her host’s Thanksgiving prep to cook a full hot breakfast for her “adult boys” because they’d simply wither away if they ate a bagel.

Haha, seriously.

I’m the bagel PP from last year. Sadly it was just us this Thanksgiving. I’m SO relieved I didn’t have to host but also a little sad not to see everyone, including my sister who I love dearly but drives me crazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mom is a weirdo about having garbage in the garbage can. She will take things out of the garbage and take it to the garbage can outside. She goes to the outside garbage can no less than 5 times a day.

I'm the PP with the mom who doesn't allow anything that's not a Kleenex in trash outside the kitchen. Does she have an auxiliary trash bag hanging on a cabinet knob for trash in the kitchen that she deems urgent?

She puts a plastic grocery bag in the garbage can (and there's a regular garbage bag in the can too) and then when the grocery bag is "full", she takes it outside. She also gets mad if you put something in the garbage that takes up too much room. I crushed an empty cracker box and threw it away. She took it out of the garbage and took it outside. It's bizarre. I've never seen someone so obsessed with the garbage.

DH is on the junior apprentice track for this behavior, but with recycling. I think that habit spans generations, though. He loves to rearrange the indoor recycling, take everything out, precisely slot it all into the weekly pickup bin, etc. His favorite times of year are when there will definitely be too much recycling and he gets to decide which recycling should go to the dump to maximize bin space for the remainder of the week.

Oh dear, I think I’m on this apprentice track too 🤭.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hey, we are in Florida for Thanksgiving, no one is cold, house is nice, no need to worry about the meals BUT...MIL invited her nieces and nephews who DH cannot stand and she forgot to tell him about that. Until last night. Until we were already in the house. He is beyond livid. Yes the house is pretty big for everyone but he doesn't want to be in the same room with them. He insists we get another place to stay and just show up for dinner. I am having so much fun with this drama.

We need to know why DH hates his cousins. 🍿

Former addicts (meth, alcohol, you name it - they've done in). Apparently they are on the road to recovery, AA, rehabs. According to MIL, "they didn't have an easy life". According to DH, "that's such BS". Doesn't want our kids to be near them.

I’m sorry, that sounds awful.

It is awful. I already told MIL "what were you thinking about inviting a bunch of addicts to a house with young children?" She responded with "you can't pick your family." They are her sister's kids, she somehow feels responsible for them. They are all in their 30s and 40s, how much responsibility can a 76-yo woman possibly take upon herself? Once an addict, always an addict.

Are they actively using during the meal, stealing the tv or talking about drugs?
If they are in recovery what is the issue?
I understand not enabling addiction, or being the victim of one but WTF with hating someone because they are an addict?!

Call me a snob, but I don't want my family to be surrounded by addicts, holidays or not. I don't condone it. They claim they are in recovery but had many stints in rehab. No, I don't want them around my young , vulnerable children. I've interacted with them before, they are not pleasant people to be around.

Then the issue is that they are crappy people, not that they are addicts. Quit painting all recovering addicts with the same brush. You sound awful.

Yes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mom is a weirdo about having garbage in the garbage can. She will take things out of the garbage and take it to the garbage can outside. She goes to the outside garbage can no less than 5 times a day.

I'm the PP with the mom who doesn't allow anything that's not a Kleenex in trash outside the kitchen. Does she have an auxiliary trash bag hanging on a cabinet knob for trash in the kitchen that she deems urgent?

She puts a plastic grocery bag in the garbage can (and there's a regular garbage bag in the can too) and then when the grocery bag is "full", she takes it outside. She also gets mad if you put something in the garbage that takes up too much room. I crushed an empty cracker box and threw it away. She took it out of the garbage and took it outside. It's bizarre. I've never seen someone so obsessed with the garbage.

DH is on the junior apprentice track for this behavior, but with recycling. I think that habit spans generations, though. He loves to rearrange the indoor recycling, take everything out, precisely slot it all into the weekly pickup bin, etc. His favorite times of year are when there will definitely be too much recycling and he gets to decide which recycling should go to the dump to maximize bin space for the remainder of the week.

Oh dear, I think I’m on this apprentice track too 🤭.

Gosh that’s cute. He could start a “maximize recycling” business for families! Win win!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m fine with apple pie on the counter.

I can’t complain about my parents or their house. It’s way bigger and fancier than where I grew up and we are very comfortable.

We did get in a WASP argument yesterday about whether or not it was ok to leave the cooked turkey sitting out for 2.5 hours, sliced. This means we whispered politely and brought it up again a few times later in the evening.

As an entertaining bonus, every time my parents mention someone in conversation we get to learn where they went to school and how much their house is valued at. Sometimes we are treated to a brief history of their or their parents’ or siblings’ drug problems or sexual identity preferences. Very chill. Very non-judgmental. Totally laid back normal things that matter.

LOL, I can just imagine the conversations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm new to my husband's family. First time staying at the in-laws. The main bathroom in the hallway does not have a doorknob. This is where I'm to shower and get ready with two other families.

I asked my husband if we could check into a hotel but he said it would hurt his moms feelings.

Girl, rubber door stopper. Fits in your purse. Amazon.com or hardware store or Target/Walmart.

I'm confused. This person thinks the PP should carry a rubber door stopper around with her? To somehow stop up the hole in the spot missing the doorknob? What?

To stop the door from being opened. It's a door stopper.

The hole was already addressed. Learn to read.

Go back and YOU read what you wrote, it makes no sense. It was about the missing door knob! Dolt!

[Anonymous]

Everyone was was dressed in casual, jeans, kakis normal casual Thanksgiving attire. Host's made their exaggerated entrance wearing a sleeveless floor length gown (it's 20 degrees in the midwest) and her husband a suit. (She usually carries her husbands balls in her purse so he has no say even though he's the smart one). They are legends in their own mind. This spans decades.

The constant bragging about their daughter making the entire meal herself was too much."Everything was made from scratch." "She's SOOO GIFTED." And how tired she was getting exhausted hugs from her siblings. WE WERE ALL HUNGRY. There was turkey, rolls, and cranberry that's pretty much it. There wasn't much too eat or too many choices really. But host has an eating disorder so the rest have to starve too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just made the relish tray and FIL is using the serving spoon to shovel olives in his mouth.

Can someone explain where the relish tray fits into the overall culinary experience, other than as a visually appealing dish to add richness to the visual presentation? I’ve seen them for years but nobody ever seems to consume anything, except perhaps as a “sneak-snack” like poster’s FIL while waiting to officially be called to the table.

Some of us relish olives, pickles etc. Gerkins are a treat.

I discovered gherkins later in life. So salty, so delicious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just made the relish tray and FIL is using the serving spoon to shovel olives in his mouth.

Can someone explain where the relish tray fits into the overall culinary experience, other than as a visually appealing dish to add richness to the visual presentation? I’ve seen them for years but nobody ever seems to consume anything, except perhaps as a “sneak-snack” like poster’s FIL while waiting to officially be called to the table.

Some of us relish olives, pickles etc. Gerkins are a treat.

I discovered gherkins later in life. So salty, so delicious.

Maille brand in particular. They are lovely