Traveling For Thanksgiving - Keeping Kids Busy

Thanksgiving is a time for gathering the family, but how do you keep kids interested while in the car or sitting in airports? Have them keep journals.

Thanksgiving Travel

Nothing beats getting your extended family together for Thanksgiving. It is a great time to catch up and laugh about old times. The only aggravating thing, of course, is actually traveling to meet up. There are already stories of travel nightmares in the news two days before Thanksgiving. This can be particularly troubling if you have kids who become easily bored. 

In these days of the Internet and video games, the average child seems to have an attention span of about 30 seconds. If a glassy-eyed child killing things on a screen is not your idea of good thing, what alternatives do you have? Giving your child a writing journal is a great way to keep them busy without resorting to violent video games. 

For many kids, the only way to truly get their attention on a thanksgiving trip is to get them involved. The best method for doing this is to give them a journal and ask them to keep notes on everything they seem. At the end of the day, they should be encouraged to write a journal entry about what happened during the day. It will give them an outlet for their thoughts, promote good writing skills and preserve family experiences they would otherwise forget with time. 

Thanksgiving Traditions Which Can Be Shared Year after Year

Thanksgiving is a holiday each year where your family can really start some great family traditions.  Often families tend to get into a rut after a while, and adding some new and interesting family traditions to the Thanksgiving celebration can really liven things up and give people something to look forward to all year.  

Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks for those people we treasure in our lives and those things we have been blessed with over the past year.  A nice tradition to start is having everyone present at your Thanksgiving gathering go around the room and tell what they are thankful for in their lives.  In addition to what they are thankful for, you can add on the tradition of also saying something nice about each person in the room.  

Another great family tradition is to have a white linen tablecloth on a different table than the one used for serving food, so that it does not become stained.  Before or after the meal, hand out a black permanent marker to each person and ask them to write something on the cloth and sign their name and date it.   You can then use the same cloth each year and have people continuing to add their information on it, or you can use a different cloth each year, maybe a smaller one, and have someone in the family turn them into stitchery or even a quilt.  

Planning Thanksgiving Dinner

Planning Thanksgiving dinner and preparing it can be very stressful, especially if you have a large family or are expecting a number of guests. In order to make Thanksgiving more enjoyable for yourself as well as your guests, some advance planning and preparation will work wonders. Use these tips to make your holiday a stress-free, memorable occasion: 

10 Days before Thanksgiving: 

A week to 10 days before Thanksgiving, make your guest list. If there are any friends or family members you have not yet contacted, do so now to give them and yourself plenty of time to prepare. If any of your guests will be bringing a special dish, add it to your menu. You can also download some recipes from the internet to enrich your thanksgiving menu.

If you will be cooking turkey, decide upon fresh, frozen, or smoked. Make sure you have room in your refrigerator and oven. You should plan on one to one 1/2 pounds per person and even a bit larger if you want plenty of leftovers. 

Deciding upon your final menu should be completed at least a week before the big day. Consider the number of people you will be entertaining and if you have children on your guest list, try to plan a couple of special dishes or treats especially for them.