Thanksgiving Day When There’s No More Kid’s Table

It was bound to happen eventually. How are you going to handle Thanksgiving Day when there’s no more kid’s table? Yikes!

Your refrigerator is bare. There are no handprint turkeys pasted to it. Your kids are now adults, but they are not yet married. Do you bide your time until the grandkids arrive? Or, do you set up an adult crafting table?

In 2020, we all had to figure out how to celebrate Thanksgiving in a pandemic. I know many people put up tents and ate dinner outside. Others required guests to wear masks in the house when not eating or imbibing and some people stayed home. Family traditions were not at the forefront last year.

It seems as though they are making a comeback in 2021!

My husband is making creamed onions. He buys pearl onions and methodically peels each little one. It takes forever but is a labor of love. I make the cream sauce and together we produce a yummy side dish! This year we will be bringing them to my husband’s sister’s house in Branford, Connecticut.

She is having her husband’s family as well as ours. I cannot wait to go! My plan is to not eat for two days prior since the food is always amazing. And, the desserts are out of this world! (Definitely worth the two-hour drive.) I enjoy the company too!

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The truth is, family traditions go through phases as the family grows (pandemic or not). It’s cyclical and natural. You do things differently when little kids are in the mix vs. an all-adult crowd. You definitely need to cater to your specific crowd.

What is a Tradition?

According to the Oxford dictionary, tradition is defined as “the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation, or the fact of being passed on in this way.” Does your family have any Thanksgiving traditions?

I remember watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade when I was younger. The balloons never really thrilled me; I liked the marching bands the best. Besides food, I think that was the only real Thanksgiving tradition we had.

As far as food though, we always had the famous Kennedy cheese roll-ups as an appetizer, and they were amazing. For what amounted to a spiral mini grilled cheese sandwich they sure were quite the production to put together! It literally took two days because you had to freeze them before you could slice them.

There was always a large crowd at our place on Thanksgiving Day. We lived in a two-family house and my grandmother and Aunt Jo lived on the top floor. My mom had eight siblings. (Unfortunately, she also had a brother that died shortly after birth.)

Everyone came to see their mom on the holidays so there were Aunts, Uncles, and cousins everywhere between our two apartments. In retrospect, it was probably a crazy, madhouse but I loved playing with my cousins. I have memories of lots of food and plenty of running around the house. It was kid heaven!

My all-time favorite part of Thanksgiving Day was the turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sandwiches we had for Supper. The festivities started early in the day so that once everyone was gone we were all hungry again. They were such a delicious way to end the day!

Why is it that my fondest memories always seem to include food? Sorry, just had to put that out there.

Getting back to the present time, what should you really do (if anything) when there’s no more kid’s table? I want to suggest you create new, fun traditions.

New Thanksgiving Traditions to Try

• Play a fact or fiction trivia game between courses. Below is a link to an article about Thanksgiving facts. You will be surprised to learn that some of the things you thought were facts are really fiction. https://www.history.com/topics/thanksgiving/thanksgiving-quiz?li_source=LI&li_medium=m2m-rcw-history
• Ask anyone that has made a dish to pass to bring the recipe. That way, those that liked it can snap a picture of the recipe and make it themselves one day. Or, post it on Instagram and give you credit for a sumptuous side or dessert!
• Games are really fun. Have you ever played the dice game Farkle? You can purchase it on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com
• There’s also a word game called Catch Phrase that is hilarious. You have to provide clues before the buzzer goes off. It can also be purchased on amazon (see link above).
• If you are really ambitious you can print out paper turkeys and hide them all over the room you are eating in. The person that finds the most turkeys gets to eat the drumstick or gets out of doing dishes!

You really don’t have to do anything different this year if you don’t want to. I am only suggesting you change things up a bit since no one seemed to have a typical Thanksgiving last year. 2021 could be the perfect year to start something new.

Please let me know in the comments section below what traditions you will have or start this year. It’s always fun to hear about what other families do for the holiday. And, definitely let me know if you plan on trying one of my suggestions.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!