How to House Hop on Thanksgiving Gracefully!

Almost everyone has done it at one time or another. We make plans to be at two places at once on Thanksgiving Day. So the option to gracefully bow out and cut the party visit short is something many Americans have had to deal with over the years.

If you happen to be a newbie, you need to make sure your loved ones feelings do not get hurt. When you get married and have a large extended family or if you marry into a large family or both, it is a fact that you need to make every family member happy especially during the Holiday season.

Thanksgiving is slightly different than Christmas, because it is a given that there is a certain time set aside for the whole bunch to be sitting down around the table and getting ready to eat. The key hopefully is that dinner will be served at different times at each location.

The best thing you can do is to plan in advance for the Holiday. If you are definitely going to your Grandma Betsey's' for Thanksgiving Dinner as you have every year since you were an infant, you know she is pretty set in her ways about having everyone around the table by 5:30PM. Your dilemma is that you just got married a few months ago to the man of your dreams and his family always eats their dinner at 5:00 PM. You appear to have yourself in a bit of a pickle, because there is no way you are making it to Queens from Staten Island in less than thirty minutes. The key is to keep the lines of communication open and pick up the phone and call them both and let them know your dilemma. Explain that you really want to be there and if there is any way that one of them can just wait a tad bit longer for you and your husband to arrive.

If you can get Grandma Betsey and the gang to decide to eat at 1:00 PM than you are set. Now the key is to decide what to eat there and what you are going to eat at your husband's mother's house. You surely cant sit at the table and poke at a salad while everyone else is digging into to Turkey and Gravy. Plus it will offend the cook.

The key is to think of who has the better Turkey. Grandma always cooks and bastes hers in a secret recipe rub, so you know you cant miss it. So the key is to proportion it out and think ahead of what you will be eating. Eat the amount of Turkey you want at Grandma Betsey's' and when you get to your wife's family house try to eat minimal turkey and more vegetables.

Of course letting all the guests know you will be leaving early when you arrive is the best way to approach it. Thanksgiving is a time of family gatherings and socializing. Right off the bat you know your family will most likely be disappointed when they hear you will not be staying for dessert. They will try to beg and woo you to stay in every way possible. Don't let it get to you, they are just trying to lay a huge guilt trip on you. Explain to them that your husbands family would like you both to be there and you are trying to make everyone happy.

Set your limits and stick to them. If your husband's family is expecting you by five, make sure you are there a few minutes before. Don't be late!

After a couple of years of house hopping at Thanksgiving time you will learn to have the method down to a science.

Just don't forget to pack some leftover Turkey to take home.