Anonymous wrote:

This is soooo amusing to me.

Do you all only go to one dinner with other people in the whole year?

We are invited to and host so many dinners, parties, events etc that we can happily accommodate several TG celebrations for the whole week - ILs, parents, siblings, friends, neighbors etc... Store bought, home made, different cuisines, no Turkey, Must have Turkey etc, etc, etc.

Anonymous wrote:You don’t ask them—you tell them this year we’re going to Cousins house. Period. They can join or not join.

Anonymous wrote:We always spend Thanksgiving with my parents. I have a very small family, I’m and only child and so are both of my parents. Prior to COVID we always used to go to my mom’s best friend’s house which was always really fun for my kids because they have two grandkids roughly the same age as my kids and they all played together nicely. After Covid that tradition ended and we have been hosting my parents ever since. The problem is that I don’t find Thanksgiving for 6 people to be particularly fun or joyful and really wish we could do something else for my kids’ sake. It’s a ton of prep, cooking and clean up for a meal that is over in under 30 mins. Plus my kids don’t even eat most Thanksgiving food. My dad typically spends the dinner complaining about politics and it’s fairly somber.

We have other options - I suggested going to a restaurant instead of cooking, or we have a cousin who lives within driving distance who invited us. My parent said no to a restaurant because they want a more traditional Thanksgiving, and also said no to the cousins because there will be 40 people there and it will be a big loud and chaotic. DH’s family has also always invited us but we would all need to fly so I understand why they don’t want to do that.

DH and I really want to do something else but we won’t ditch them since they have no one else to spend the holiday with. How can we convince them to give something else a try?

Anonymous wrote:

This is soooo amusing to me.

Do you all only go to one dinner with other people in the whole year?

We are invited to and host so many dinners, parties, events etc that we can happily accommodate several TG celebrations for the whole week - ILs, parents, siblings, friends, neighbors etc... Store bought, home made, different cuisines, no Turkey, Must have Turkey etc, etc, etc.

Anonymous wrote:We always spend Thanksgiving with my parents. I have a very small family, I’m and only child and so are both of my parents. Prior to COVID we always used to go to my mom’s best friend’s house which was always really fun for my kids because they have two grandkids roughly the same age as my kids and they all played together nicely. After Covid that tradition ended and we have been hosting my parents ever since. The problem is that I don’t find Thanksgiving for 6 people to be particularly fun or joyful and really wish we could do something else for my kids’ sake. It’s a ton of prep, cooking and clean up for a meal that is over in under 30 mins. Plus my kids don’t even eat most Thanksgiving food. My dad typically spends the dinner complaining about politics and it’s fairly somber.

We have other options - I suggested going to a restaurant instead of cooking, or we have a cousin who lives within driving distance who invited us. My parent said no to a restaurant because they want a more traditional Thanksgiving, and also said no to the cousins because there will be 40 people there and it will be a big loud and chaotic. DH’s family has also always invited us but we would all need to fly so I understand why they don’t want to do that.

DH and I really want to do something else but we won’t ditch them since they have no one else to spend the holiday with. How can we convince them to give something else a try?

Anonymous wrote:You don’t need to convince them. Your obligation is to include them in whatever you decide to do. They can choose to attend or not. You don’t need to keep hosting an event you don’t even enjoy or like.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don’t need to convince them. Your obligation is to include them in whatever you decide to do. They can choose to attend or not. You don’t need to keep hosting an event you don’t even enjoy or like.

You sound like someone I'd hate to have in my family. I bet you are single.

Anonymous wrote:You don’t need to convince them. Your obligation is to include them in whatever you decide to do. They can choose to attend or not. You don’t need to keep hosting an event you don’t even enjoy or like.