What's weird about where you are staying - Thanksgiving 2025 Edition

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My parents insisted on hosting, claiming their house is the only one with enough space.

Said they are too old to do all the cooking, and will only make the turkey. That's fine, the 4 adult kids + spouses divided up the side dishes and desserts and we have a plan.

On Monday, parents announced that no one arrive at the house more than 30 minutes before meal time. Drive time for everyone is 1-3 hours, so it's not like we are arriving with hot food. Looking forward to the battle for oven time/space.

I cannot wait to hear your update.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Y’all. My MIL has announced she’s divorcing my FIL. Which, he is a terrible person, but he’s always been terrible. Why now? Why at Thanksgiving? He’s spent the day in the garage with his hunting buddies. My DH and his siblings are having a frantic convening in the kitchen. Awkward! I’m staying out of the way with our 18 month old and very glad I put my foot down about staying in a hotel this year. Will update on the craziness.

So glad you’re staying at a hotel.
This is wild!
Yessss keep us posted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The above-stove microwave has been broken for at least a year. The handle has been glued with Krazy Glue and Gorilla Glue, and taped heavily with clear packing tape. The man of the house refuses to believe that yes, it could be replaced, somehow and some way, even though it is an above-stove model, so they aren’t replacing it, just dealing with a broken microwave that you have to handle “just so.”

Yes, we’re staying home this year and hosting. This is my house and my life, and there’s no escape.

The appliance repairmen are going to have to pry my mom's almond-colored, above-almond-stove GE Profile convection microwave out of her "cold, dead hands". It is literally irreplaceable. It's cost more to repair than to buy several times over. Its digital readout is fading like a dying star. Once that long-out-of-stock part becomes totally unreadable that will be the end.

Don’t bet on it. My parents kept their original 1990s microwave long after the readout was illegible, and I used it in law school and for a year afterwards. I finally insisted on ditching it when I moved cities. It still worked so they took it back for another year until they renovated their kitchen and got a new one. (Though you had to guess and pray you’d hit the right buttons.)

[Anonymous]

Haven't been to my parents house in 2+ years. Decided to visit for the holiday.....and was immediately reminded why we don't! My parents hate each other but refuse to divorce. My father had the audacity to breathe and it sets me mother off. My mother suggests that maybe cookies don't need to be cooked for 20 minutes and my dad freaks out. They're utterly awful to each other and awful to be around.

Thank God we got an Airbnb just a few doors down and can retreat to peace and quiet as needed!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My uncle is constantly spoiling for a fight. I’m not staying at his house, but we’ll be at the same gathering.

He honestly has fought with me and his DIL over Jiffy corn pudding. We were discussing how much we loved it, and he starts in with “YOU don’t even KNOW where JIFFY MIX is FROM,” all indignant. And we both said at the same time, “It must be from Michigan.” Because he lived there for like 5 years, and anywhere or anything that is even loosely tied to him is the best thing that ever was or ever will be. And then he got mad that we “just guessed when we didn’t even KNOW it was from MICHIGAN.”

I have Jiffy cornbread mix for Thanksgiving muffins. But corn pudding sounds wonderful. How do you make it?

Google to make sure, but I think it is:
1 box Jiffy
1 egg (maybe 2 eggs?)
1/2 a cup or so of sour cream
1 melted stick of butter
1 can creamed corn
1 can kernel corn (I prefer the white kernel corn)

Mix, pour into a casserole dish and bake for about 45 minutes.

350 degree oven.

1 can of creamed corn, ~11 oz., no regular corn.
2-3 eggs, I do 2
1 cup sour cream
1 stick butter
1 Jiffy mix

My 30 year old index card from my family’s 60 year old “recipe” is most certainly taken from a free Jiffy promotional recipe book and I think you can play fast and loose with it. I think the above PP’s recipe compensates for less sour cream by adding more corn and probably tastes better than mine.

Put the stick of butter in the casserole dish and in the oven to melt. Then mix everything else together and pour into the dish right on top of the melted butter. Check it at 20-25 minutes. 45 minutes will be too long.

[Anonymous]

Not staying there but my dear friend is hosting Thanksgiving and usually hosts a total of no more than 8 of us. I love her but she’s not a planner and is low key to a fault. Somehow things snowballed to 16 this week. I have been begging her to let me bring over extra chairs and tables. As of this morning she was at 8 chairs and 1 table for 6 people.

I wore her down to take 4 more chairs but haven’t convinced her to take the table or additional chairs yet. I have the extras sitting in the garage ready to go at the last minute for when everyone has their plates and she looks around and realizes that no one can sit down. Luckily she lives 10 blocks away, but still.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The above-stove microwave has been broken for at least a year. The handle has been glued with Krazy Glue and Gorilla Glue, and taped heavily with clear packing tape. The man of the house refuses to believe that yes, it could be replaced, somehow and some way, even though it is an above-stove model, so they aren’t replacing it, just dealing with a broken microwave that you have to handle “just so.”

Yes, we’re staying home this year and hosting. This is my house and my life, and there’s no escape.

The appliance repairmen are going to have to pry my mom's almond-colored, above-almond-stove GE Profile convection microwave out of her "cold, dead hands". It is literally irreplaceable. It's cost more to repair than to buy several times over. Its digital readout is fading like a dying star. Once that long-out-of-stock part becomes totally unreadable that will be the end.

Don’t bet on it. My parents kept their original 1990s microwave long after the readout was illegible, and I used it in law school and for a year afterwards. I finally insisted on ditching it when I moved cities. It still worked so they took it back for another year until they renovated their kitchen and got a new one. (Though you had to guess and pray you’d hit the right buttons.)

i would be concerned that the old microwaves leak.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not staying there but my dear friend is hosting Thanksgiving and usually hosts a total of no more than 8 of us. I love her but she’s not a planner and is low key to a fault. Somehow things snowballed to 16 this week. I have been begging her to let me bring over extra chairs and tables. As of this morning she was at 8 chairs and 1 table for 6 people.

I wore her down to take 4 more chairs but haven’t convinced her to take the table or additional chairs yet. I have the extras sitting in the garage ready to go at the last minute for when everyone has their plates and she looks around and realizes that no one can sit down. Luckily she lives 10 blocks away, but still.

I am fascinated by people like this. I would love to have a chill brain for even a day. Does she work? Is she a parent?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Y’all. My MIL has announced she’s divorcing my FIL. Which, he is a terrible person, but he’s always been terrible. Why now? Why at Thanksgiving? He’s spent the day in the garage with his hunting buddies. My DH and his siblings are having a frantic convening in the kitchen. Awkward! I’m staying out of the way with our 18 month old and very glad I put my foot down about staying in a hotel this year. Will update on the craziness.

So, I tapped out yesterday evening and fled back to the hotel. DH stayed pretty late and came back around midnight. MIL is about to retire, and so everyone thinks that is triggering the divorce. She's been squirreling money away for years in a separate account, apparently. Also, she may or may not be rekindling an old high school flame.

Also, i think the actual Thanksgiving dinner is in doubt. I took a look around the kitchen and pantry, and while I did see ingredients and the turkey in the fridge...none of the usual prep is visible. And a real lack of other basic food. I stopped by a grocery store yesterday to get basics for me and mine, lol, just in cause things fall apart. Some toddler pouches, sandwich stuff. This is a tiny town--nothing is going to be open today and I am prepping for anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Y’all. My MIL has announced she’s divorcing my FIL. Which, he is a terrible person, but he’s always been terrible. Why now? Why at Thanksgiving? He’s spent the day in the garage with his hunting buddies. My DH and his siblings are having a frantic convening in the kitchen. Awkward! I’m staying out of the way with our 18 month old and very glad I put my foot down about staying in a hotel this year. Will update on the craziness.

So, I tapped out yesterday evening and fled back to the hotel. DH stayed pretty late and came back around midnight. MIL is about to retire, and so everyone thinks that is triggering the divorce. She's been squirreling money away for years in a separate account, apparently. Also, she may or may not be rekindling an old high school flame.

Also, i think the actual Thanksgiving dinner is in doubt. I took a look around the kitchen and pantry, and while I did see ingredients and the turkey in the fridge...none of the usual prep is visible. And a real lack of other basic food. I stopped by a grocery store yesterday to get basics for me and mine, lol, just in cause things fall apart. Some toddler pouches, sandwich stuff. This is a tiny town--nothing is going to be open today and I am prepping for anything.

Oh boy! Good luck, OP and keep the updates coming.

[Anonymous]

I’d love to hear more updates on this thread. I love my extended family but also they aggravate me. I don’t have any gems yet to share. We will be there in 2 hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are hosting. Thermostat has to be set at 72 for the grandparents, plus the fireplace has to be on. Unfortunately, the fireplace is in the small seating area in the kitchen, and I am simultaneously cooking tonight's dinner and also baking a pie for Thanksgiving. Between the thermostat, fireplace, and the oven and stove, I am roasting.

Tell them you have a crack in the chimney and it can let it CO2 and you could all be poisoned and you cant' use it this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not staying there but my dear friend is hosting Thanksgiving and usually hosts a total of no more than 8 of us. I love her but she’s not a planner and is low key to a fault. Somehow things snowballed to 16 this week. I have been begging her to let me bring over extra chairs and tables. As of this morning she was at 8 chairs and 1 table for 6 people.

I wore her down to take 4 more chairs but haven’t convinced her to take the table or additional chairs yet. I have the extras sitting in the garage ready to go at the last minute for when everyone has their plates and she looks around and realizes that no one can sit down. Luckily she lives 10 blocks away, but still.

I am fascinated by people like this. I would love to have a chill brain for even a day. Does she work? Is she a parent?

She works! Extremely successful executive at a big tech company and has a DC. I, too, am amazed by how her brain works. Luckily I have enough anxiety for the two of us.

[Anonymous]

This is new…. fighting over which marching band better in parade-family knows no one in any band but would think loser of argument will be stoned is level of argument.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is anyone staying at a place where the tv is on at all times and at full volume? I feel I am being absolutely inundated with fake-nice daytime talk show banter and commercials for personal injury lawyers.

Yes and both of my parents phones make SO MUCH NOISE. My mom will hear a ding and ask if it’s my phone. No my phone has not made a noise in 5 years!!!