WWYD re: Thanksgiving
freeatlast2014
member
I don't have a huge house but I have a huge family. I need to figure out what to do for Thanksgiving.
1. Have roughly 30-40 people here for dinner and do pot luck/buffet.
2. Have roughly 30-40 people here, have them chip in with money, and have it catered with buffet. If we can afford, I might have them come in to set up and clean up.
3. Start leaving out family members that I've always spent holidays with to have less than 30 people. We currently spend it with our grandparents, parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins plus significant others. Every.holiday.
4. Pack up my 2 month old and 22 month old and go to relatives' house. Then I'd have to choose which side because one set lives in our town, the other 45+ minutes away (my mom). I couldn't handle both.
I just don't know what to do.
Re: WWYD re: Thanksgiving
1. I would have ppl bring a dish, if that is accepted in your circle. I would just keep a list going so there weren't 20 pots of mashed potatoes.
Catering sounds super nice, also if that would be accepted in your social circle. But I think everyones financial situations are so different, it might put off some people from coming, kwim?
What MarSam said...
My DH works every Thanksgiving so I am usually left to my own devices- I either go to my parents or just hang out at home with the kids. MIL always tries to make things way too complicated.
SweetH: Last year I rotated - Turkey day with my mom's side at my Nanny's house. Easter with my in-laws at my MIL's house.
MSW: Pot luck would absolutely be fine, we usually do this at my Nanny's cause she can't cook anymore. People prefer home cooked over catering so I think that'd be preferred. However, if I tell people they have to fork up some dough than that would kind of be good cause then some family will decline (and I know exactly who that would be). Andplusalso, it's just plain tacky. "Hey - you are more than welcome to come for turkey day dinner. You have 5 people coming. $20 per person - bring $100". Yeah, I can't believe I would think to do this. Well, I was NOT thinking this morning. I was just panicking.
AAGGHH. The thought of hosting makes me cringe. The thought of packing the kids up makes me cringe. I wish I had the balls to say "We are doing a small family dinner with just the 4 of us. Love you"
I agree with you that inviting people to pay for dinner wouldn't really work. (There's a way to do it, I think, if everyone decides ahead of time that's what you want to do.)
I think I'd try to leave people out. I don't think every holiday needs to include every single member of your extended family. Hosting 40 people is just too much - especially with a newborn. I think you can keep it to parents and your siblings (and grandparents) and say it's because you have a tiny baby.