Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I still do big holiday meals -- but they are beginning to wear me down. My married adult children live on the other side of the country -- so we alternate Thanksgiving and Christmas with their in-laws -- meaning my two children and spouses and grandchildren come for only one holiday -- and that is usually a doozy. Everyone in my extended family wants to see them so I end up having multiple big dinners or brunches. Last year I was so exhausted by Christmas -- I cooked a gigantic homemade Christmas Eve dinner for 10 and then had a Christmas brunch for 10 the next day. All homemade foods that everyone loves. Two days later I had 18 people over although I ordered food but it was still total chaos and alot of work. It's the cleanup, the prep work, the cooking and the cleaning up after that really gets me. I love everyone and a part of me wants to uphold the tradition but changes are coming. Also as the family gets bigger it just gets to be too much for any one person. I told my husband I want to go on a river cruise for Christmas next year!! LOL
I hosted Thanksgiving when I was 24 years old for the first time, it was a large family gathering. We moved away from family and I still made holiday dinners for us and friends. After our son went to college and moved away, I still carried on the traditions for the two of us and anyone we had over for 18 years. I kept those skill sets up to date.
We moved to FL near our son, DIL and grandkids. I make the holiday meals and still enjoy doing it. We have had the other in-laws over when they are in town and invited our neighbor’s cousins over when they were going to be alone on Thanksgiving. We both enjoy hosting and the fun. The kitchen afterwards is a disaster, but it’s whipped into shape in an hour with the two of us talking about it.
Easter has always been my least favorite holiday, stemming from being a tomboy forced to get dressed up and sitting in a house with company when it was a beautiful spring day outside and I had to be inside. It was sheer torture for me. I decided I was finally breaking the tradition of a formal meal this year, instead making ribs and having a cook out with a pool party. We had a fun, relaxed time with the family, but I ended up making hot cross buns that morning, because, well, it was Easter after all.
Traditions and holidays and some foods have good memories for me. My mother made cloverleaf rolls for special dinners and I do too. I can’t bring myself to buy store pies, Irish soda bread or other holiday baked goods. Store bought items can’t compare. All of these things matter to me, so I don’t feel put upon, burdened or worn out from it. It’s always been my choice. I love doing it and hope the grandkids will have happy memories of it all. When life changes, and I don’t want to or can’t, I’ll go with it. Nothing lasts forever.
We did Thanksgiving in 2013. We had everything arranged for a set number of relatives. What no one told us was that one relative had invited some that we didn't. Made for a skimpy meal. In addition one of the uninvited was (and always is) obnoxious to the extreme. He ruined the entire day for everyone.
Last time. Ever. Let the person that invited them do it. We moved 1400 miles away in 2014. Now we don't have to put up with them except for funerals.
Guess I could say no, Minervah. I do it well enough with others in my life. But I really look forward to our traditional holiday meals. No restaurant is going to take the place.
You've gotta give me credit for abandoning them to their own devices one year over Thanksgiving and Christmas to get the point across. They ate pizza.
And silibran, when I do pass the torch that will be the end of it, I think, given what my little experiment demonstrated.
So yeah, I only have myself to blame because it's something I want and just don't want to do it anymore. And it's also my point for hopelessly spoiling them.
With Easter having passed by, I thought this was as good of a time as any to discuss this.
My family used to have the big Easter meal, usually ham. It always made by my maternal grandmother. Nearing 84 and with mobility issues, she's doing less of these dinners. We'd all get together for the major holidays and an occasional Sunday dinner.
My aunt did Thanksgiving and Christmas the previous year, and I think my grandmother did one of the holiday dinners last year. In any event, they're becoming less frequent.
When did you take over the family dinner duties or pass it on to the next generation?
I neither took it over or passed it on. My mother became incapable of cooking such a dinner almost 4 years ago, and my father has an eating disorder. No other sibs here...so no point in it. Suits me fine as I've never been big on holiday meals anyway.
We used to take turns with the holiday meals. I did Thanksgiving, my sister did Christmas Eve and my mother did Christmas. We took turns with Easter. But then my husband died and I moved from a 4 bedroom house to a 2 bedroom apartment and eventually bought this small 2 bedroom house. I did this last Thanksgiving but it was hard because I just don't have the space even though there is only 12-14 of us.
My son recently bought a large 3 bedroom condo so he is going to do Thanksgiving now. I am happy to pass him the baton as I have really begun to hate cooking these days.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
