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My Recipe for a Happy Thanksgiving

November 22, 2015 By Kathy Radigan

My Recipe for a Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is days away. Everyone I know is putting the finishing touches on their menus for the big holiday feast. Recipes for the perfect turkey, gravy, and pumpkin pie can be found on numerous TV talk shows, magazines, and blogs.

Nowhere have I seen a recipe for preparing the most crucial element of a great holiday meal: Your kids.

After celebrating 16 years of holidays being a mother, 10 as the mom of three, I would like to share my secret three-step recipe for a lovely Thanksgiving. Or at least one where the kids, my husband, and I survive.  

Like most recipes this one has evolved over the years as my family has grown. But the basics remain. Feel free to make this recipe your own. Families are like ovens, they each are a little different!

Step One

Kinder Souffle (or Getting Le Children Ready)

Prep time 1 to 2 hours

Ingredients:

Children (preferably your own)

A place to go to for Thanksgiving (This year we are going to my parents.)

Clothes*

* I first used dress clothes in this recipe, and though I love seeing my kids all dressed up, I no longer think this is mandatory.

Major amount of patience

Prescription drugs (optional)

Just like your average souffle, Kinder Souffle needs to prepared very carefully. If this part of your Thanksgiving goes wrong, the whole day can be off course.

Actual time to get ready:

Varies by child, mood, and what’s on TV.

This recipe calls for ever gently starting to mention that it is time to get ready to go to Grandma’s for dinner. It’s important to start slowly and gently. If you can sing and dance, it helps to get the little dears’ attention. This is not mandatory, but it does help.

Help your younger kids get dressed. Get ready to argue with your tween or teen that shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt may not be the best choice for the cold weather of the holiday and their grandparents’ sense of decorum.**  

**Note: How much effort you decide to put in the actual style of clothing is really a matter of taste and how much you can stand the disapproving looks of your parents and other older relatives. If comments such as, “You would never have been able to step foot outside the house looking like that when you lived under my roof” don’t make you want to tear your hair out, then by all means, just skip ahead to worrying about general grooming and shoes on feet.

Take a deep breath. This may be a good time to avail yourself of the optional ingredient of prescription medication.

Step Two: Main Course

Roast mommy with a side of wilted nerves

Prep time: Varies greatly but expect to be helping your children while everyone is enjoying their meal. Developing a taste for cold stuffing and sweet potatoes is extremely helpful.

This is the main course, the event that everyone has been waiting for all year. Go slowly. Proceed with caution, of course keeping in mind the age and food/texture/color preferences of your individual ingredients.

Remember that big family meals with relatives you don’t often see can be stressful for everybody, especially your kids. Even if they are older and usually self reliant, they may need a little extra help navigating the food and serving dishes.

Once everyone is set up, feel free to make up your own plate of food. Please keep in mind that your enjoyment of this meal is really dependent on how well your basic ingredients (otherwise known as your kids) have set up.

Step Three: Dessert

Otherwise known as the course it took me years to eat with my family***

If your children are babies or toddlers, there is an extremely good chance that by the time you get them fed and cleaned up, everyone else may be done with their dessert and coffee.

***All of you experienced moms out there, if you are not knee deep in babies and young kids yourself, you may want to think about helping a family member with small kids herself and give a baby a bottle or play with a toddler. Remember, infants don’t talk back, and since they are not yours, you don’t have to bring them home with you.

Once you do finally get to sit down and enjoy whatever remains of your meal or dessert, give yourself a minute and breathe. Take it all in.   

I have promised myself that this is the year I will finally focus on this step. In the past, I have gotten so stressed out making sure everyone is having the perfect Thanksgiving that I have not taken the time to really enjoy the people I love most in the world.

I will do everything I can to ensure that my recipe for a lovely holiday is followed. Then I will do my best to remember that the beauty in this day, and my life, is not the recipe I plan for, but the one that I ultimately get.

 

A version of this recipe appeared on Scary Mommy last year (11/14)

 

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Filed Under: Family Tagged With: babies, company, family, holiday preparations, holidays and stress, motherhood, recipes, relatives, teens and tweens, Thanksgiving

Comments

  1. Janine Huldie says

    November 22, 2015 at 9:23 pm

    This is absolutely perfect, Kathy and need to remember this for this Thanksgiving now. And wishing you a wonderful and where at some point during the day you can totally sit and take it all in. Hugs to you xoxo 😉
    Janine Huldie recently posted…5 Years Later…Happy Birthday to My BabyMy Profile

  2. Lisa Weinstein says

    November 22, 2015 at 9:38 pm

    Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Kathy! Enjoy the turkey, and relish in the love of your family! Hugs!!!

  3. Kisma says

    November 23, 2015 at 7:25 am

    This is most excellent! We are hosting Turkey day this year and I have already planted the seed into my two teenagers that there presence will be required in the kitchen for the mingling hour verses disappearing into their caves.

    Have a wonderful holiday!
    Kisma recently posted…Monday’s Music with a HUGE side of Thanks!My Profile

  4. nancy@skinnykitchen.com says

    November 23, 2015 at 10:32 am

    You are such a fabulous, cleaver writer Kathy. I know your recipe will come out great!
    Wishing you and your family a yummy day!
    xoxo
    Nancy
    nancy@skinnykitchen.com recently posted…Guilt-free Mashed Potatoes with Butter, Sour Cream and ChivesMy Profile

  5. Anne Louise Bannon says

    November 23, 2015 at 4:52 pm

    No small children at my coming Thanksgiving. Unless my niece comes with hers. Hope so. I love a baby fix.
    Anne Louise Bannon recently posted…Green Beans Amandine (A Dark Side of the Fridge Special)My Profile

  6. Rena McDaniel says

    November 23, 2015 at 10:20 pm

    This is so funny Kathy! Sunday was our first Thanksgiving with the babies. Last year they were still in the NICU so there wasn’t much of one anyway. I have not done one damn thing today. I’m exhausted! I cooked all day and babysat while both of their parents worked. I loved every single minute of it, My oldest is 26 so I’ve been doing it a long, long time!
    Rena McDaniel recently posted…IS THERE A CAREGIVER IN YOUR LIFE?My Profile

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Much thanks to Joseph Radigan, who besides being a great husband and father, also uses his talents to gently and ever so tactfully edit my blog. Joe is a business editor at Thomson Reuters in NY.
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