Ten Tips for Family Bonding This Thanksgiving

I cannot believe that Thanksgiving is only a week away. I have got to go out and get French’s dried onions pronto because the guys love that traditional green bean casserole. (Luckily, the onions are on sale at Walgreen’s this week.) So, besides all the great food, the next best thing about this wonderful holiday is family togetherness. Let’s bring our families even closer this year with these tips for family bonding at Thanksgiving.

1. Avoid using Thanksgiving dinner as an opportunity for lectures and warnings. Oh, it is so tempting to try to straighten out that kid of yours when it is the first time you’ve seen him with the new tattoo and…oh, no, what is that in his tongue? You so did not give birth to him so he could make holes in his head. Take a deep breath, give him a big hug and tell him that shirt he is wearing really looks fabulous with his complexion.
2. Create a new tradition of recording thankful thoughts for posterity. You can do it the high tech way, with a video camera, or you can start a thankfulness journal that each person can write a few words in each year. It is fun to go back through old entries together and relive your happiest moments in years to come.
3. Schedule a before dinner activity for family members and guests who aren’t involved in dinner prep. Send them out to ice skate or set up a game of touch football. (Football is particularly nice, since the losing team can be forced to help with after dinner clean up.)
4. Hold a talent (or non-talent if your family members are all tone deaf and have two left feet) show or put on a family play. Younger children love the chance to dress up.
5. During dinner, ask everyone to turn to the person on the right and say one thing they really admire about that person. It may seem a little awkward and elementary schoolish at first, but it is worth the embarrassment and foot shuffling to see two kids (or adults) who usually bicker say something nice instead.
6. Play old family movies in the background. While few people will want to sit and watch six hours of videotaped memories, people will occasionally stop what they are doing to watch a special moment.
7. Set up an after dinner board game tournament. Choose games that involve a lot of laughter and silliness, such as Trivial Pursuit and Hungry Hippos.
8. Do something nice for someone less fortunate. Seeing a homeless family or people eating at a shelter on Thanksgiving is a great way to help your family members realize how much they have. Visiting a retirement home helps them see how fortunate they are to have each other.
9. Plan another day of togetherness for the day after Thanksgiving. If Black Friday isn’t your thing, organize a gift wrapping party or a Christmas card writing marathon. If you are all about Black Friday, discuss deals with each other, make sure cell phones are charged so you can find each other in the crowds and create your shopping route.
10. Wrap up the day with another tradition – watching a holiday classic, like Miracle on 34th Street or A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.

photo by S Brown