Thanksgiving: a relaxing respite, or a menace to society?

[Yumie]

All righty guys. It's time for brutal honesty. Does your extended family drive you bonkers at Thanksgiving? Do you find that the thing you give thanks over the most on the fourth Thursday of November is that it comes only once a year? Or do you sing songs of praise for God's display of creativity in that delicious bird we call "the turkey" and the jolly good time you get to spend with all those people with whom you are genetically similar? The world wants to know, so tell me! Er-- them!

This question came to me as I contemplated my own feelings about my family's plans for Thanksgiving and watched the bazillionth commercial about how sometimes you need a holiday after the holiday. I couldn't help but wonder how everyone else felt. (By the way, this is concerning how you feel about the way your family celebrates this holiday, not how you feel about the holiday itself. I already assume we're all grateful to have a special day set aside for the sole purpose of thanking God for all the ways He's blessed us.)

[Mr. SmartyPants]

I haven't had extended family over for thanksgiving since many years back (meaning my uncles, cousins, etc) But I think this year we're having some of my cousins and aunt over. So I'm pretty excited.

[Yumie]

XD, OK guys, for those of you who saw the three other threads that had the exact same title as this one, I fixed it. This is my first poll, and as I was posting it, I was like, "Hmmm, I forgot to say something! La dee da dee da. . ." So I'd go back from the page where I was adding poll options and put more text in the body, and then come back. The thought occured to me that it could be posting a thread each time, but I was like, "Nah, I think that it doesn't actually go through until I add a poll." XD. Anyways, you learn something new every day!

[Cognitive Gear]

I love Thanksgiving. A holiday about THANKING? And celebrating God's bountiful supply to us through a FEAST? I'm there.

Seriously, though. I love thanksgiving. It's a much welcome change from the over-commercialized holidays.

However, to be brutally honest, I really don't enjoy the company of my extended family. It's not that they aren't good people, or that they aren't good socializers. They are both. On one side of my family, my grandparents are crazy. I also get to hear my parents whine about the fact that they have to see them. On the other side of my extended family, there is a family of sisters. Very loud. They tend to discuss things that they seem to be vastly misinformed, and they don't listen if you try to properly inform them.

/sigh. Thankfully I can usually get away with just eating, eating, and more eating; so long as I block out their conversations. Although that doesn't avoid the obligatory "So Phillip... Any special ladies in your life?" To which I reply, "Nope, not at the moment". To which they say, "Bah! You're handsome. They just don't know what their missing!"

Maybe this year I'll be a step ahead and say "Nope, but they don't know what their missing; me being so handsome and all".

[Radical Dreamer]

I love Thanksgiving! It's SUCH a beautiful time of year, and my family and I don't really have any particular traditions (other than food), so we get together with friends some years, relatives other years, and both other years still. XD I have lots of good memories from this time of year, so I like it.

[KBMaster]

Well, all of my extended family either lives too far away or goes to my grandparent's house. Usually, my sister and her fiancee come over along with some friends of ours who are like family. I always have a TON of fun. ^_^

Unfortunately though, I don't think my sister can make it this year. ;_; But, hopefully the frends will come over and I know my mom doesn't have to work, so yay!

And the food is great here on thanksgiving. Especially the marshmallows around the yams(hate yams though).

[Puritan]

I like Thanksgiving. While this year I have the first thanksgiving with my extended family ever (or at least in memory, my family has lived too far away from our extended family to get together on a regular basis), I really enjoy the time to be with family, to thank God for what He has blessed us with, and to have good food (including Pecan Pie, it's not thanksgiving without Pecan Pie.). Plus I enjoy the multitude of uses Turkey can be put to...

[Puguni]

I almost always have Thanksgiving with my mom's side of the family. I only remember one time when I didn't have Thanksgiving with them. I've been around my mom's side of the family so much that I've grown kind of used to them. It's relatively pleasant. It's also because my family has been the 'favored' one in the extended family, uncomfortably. It's truly an uncomfortable thing to have extended family members praise us a lot. :[ I mean, we're not that great, seriously. I'm afraid we've grown a little spoiled.

Also, since we've moved into our new home, they are kind of expecting Thanksgiving to be at our house regularly now. It's...odd. :S My holidays are a double edged sword.

Don't even get me started on Christmas...

[Cap'n Nick]

I have fun with my family on the holidays. When I was younger I thought everybody did. Too bad that's not the case, eh?

This year, I'll be spending Thanksgiving with a different family. Should be fun, if I can get enough time to eat in between the inevitable potential in-law interviews.

[Yumie]

the inevitable potential in-law interviews.

Oh, I watched my cousin's fiance go through that. Looked like. . . fun. . . XD

For me, I like being around my mom's sister's family at Thanksgiving, but, my grandmother on my mom's side can cause a lot of family stress. She can be extremely hard to please, and makes a lot of demands. It's pretty hard on my mom, and us kids as a result. But having the rest of the family there makes it still fun despite all that.

[Swordguy]

what is not to like about food...and games with alot of competive spirit and hanging all the younger cousins from trees and stealing their food...wait i am one of the youngest

though i come from a huge family, my mom had 6 siblings and herself for a total of seven. that is alot of cousins, so it is probably a good thing that i get along around alot of people.

[Mithrandir]

The thought occured to me that it could be posting a thread each time, but I was like, "Nah, I think that it doesn't actually go through until I add a poll." XD. Anyways, you learn something new every day!

[Doubleshadow]

w00t! Thanskgiving! I see all my family (we're all Christians [thank you Jesus!] but a few, and they are well-behaved) and we have a good ole redneck time! First we drive out to my grandparents, dodging deer, hay trucks, tractors, mudslides, etc. We weave through the dogs to a parking place in the yard, assuming we don't have to open a gate because there's a cow in the yard again.
Don't read the next part if you don't like hunting.
[spoiler] We check the eviscerated deer carcasses and severed deer heads hanging from the apple tree and from the loft in the bar, assuming there is not a cow or yellow jacket nest in there or the chicken coop, to see how my relations did hunting that morning. [/spoiler]
Then we watch football or play soccer and bocceball while some us cook (I stir the gravy every year), then we all gather around the table for a family prayer, load our plates, and take the food back into the living room to eat while watching football.

[Mithrandir]

... or if you don't want to not like hunting ...


*counts negatives*

... yeah...

[Night]

I never have the huge family problem at Thanksgiving.

Mostly because I only see my relatives (excluding my parents, I live with them) once a year near Christmas. That's far more than I like to.

[ShiroiHikari]

I have fun with my dad and stepmom's crew. I don't really have fun with my mom's people though.

[Dante]

I love our family and the food, its great. Generally though we only have Thanksgiving without uncles and what not, generally my Grandma attends but no one else. When they do though they're really cool too! When they used to come though I REALY REALLY HATED ONE THING... The cleanup BEFORE they came. (2 Days... one house... let the torment begin)

[Stephen]

Doubleshadow gets 25 cool points for not being scared of deer hunting...

[Kkun]

My mom's side of the family is crazy.

My dad's side of the family is wonderful.

That's pretty much it.

[FarmGirl]

Most all of my family and friends are at least lightly bonkers (except for this lady who is completely sane... she scares me, she really does), but that's what makes it fun in most cases. They're all good cooks, so the meals are enjoyable.
Attending more than one ceremonial, stiff-necked meal in the span of a month gets to me a bit, though. For example, next week we're going up to visit my grandmother, and we will be having the Thanksgiving meal with her. Then we'll do it again when my parent's work schedules permit (ha, nurses don't get holidays off). And who knows where we'll be invited this year... This is just a personal problem, and I will get over it.
As a whole, Thanksgiving is great.

[Ingemar]

I see Thanksgiving as rehearsal for Christmas.

[Rachel]

I despise Thanksgiving.

[oro!]

Thanksgiving is fun because of the inevitable games and jokes that go on...just like Christmas. The only difference this year is that it'll be at our house instead of my aunt's.

[Valkaiser]

Well, I'm gonna give my vote for the last one...
Although it's mostly my fault, I'm not big on the fancy food found at family gatherings and I am not much on being around that many people at once.
Plus there are no guys my age there, I have 5 female cousins the same age as me.

[Debitt]

I see Thanksgiving as rehearsal for Christmas.

That's sort of the way it is at my house. It's the dinner minus the extra guests and the tearing open of presents.

I usually enjoy Thanksgiving, helping my mom in the kitchen and what not. I'm a bit bummed I won't be able to see them this year. =[ My Thanksgiving break is too short to warrant a trip back home.

[Smilemon]

Thanksgiving, for me, is just a day to be thankful to God and eat foods I do not usually eat.
Unlike most people, my family does not get together on Thanksgiving, or any other holiday for that matter. I do not see my family that often, with the exception of my maternal grandmother.

However, I sometimes go to visit my maternal aunt and her family on Thanksgiving, perhaps I will visit them this year.

[SpikeSpiegel306]

Why a Turkey? I wish the pilgrims had been like, "Sweet, we didn't die. Let's go to Central Market and get the most expensive steak we can find."

[soul alive]

I dearly love to eat turkey, and my mom is a great cook. So the food is always great.

For the last few years it's just been the four of us in my immediate family, but this year my two aunts, an uncle, and a cousin I haven't seen for years, especially all together, are going to be there, so I'm super excited. We always have the holidays at our house, because my grandfather lived there before we did, and all his kids would come home for the holidays, and we just keep the tradition up now.

:edit: Plus, I get to see my boyfriend over the break as well. Probably not for Thanksgiving, though.

[servantzero]

Well it dosent matter if extended family come or not because during that time I'm going to be at a Youth Convention...