Holiday Stress, Family Style
Thanksgiving trials and tribulations are so common that most years there is some sort of fight. It’s easy to do, really. All you have to do is let the stress get to you, suspend common sense, and let it fly.
The holidays are a very stressful time of year, mental health professionals say. I don’t have empirical data on this, nor a source you can check. I’ve heard it said, so I repeat it. This is the Internet so it must be true. I figure Thanksgiving fights come from the fact that tomorrow is Black Friday, and I just know I’ll be wrestling some old lady in the morning for the last $20 DVD Player at Target.
Some of the biggest and most memorable disasters we’ve had:
- The Great Gravy Incident, where my sister-in-law finished helping with the food for all the kids, and by the time she got to the table, the gravy was gone. I think that was the last time we saw her that night. She didn’t speak to anyone that year.
- The Bonanza Buy-a-Hand Brush-Up, where my brother-in-law bid $.25 for a hand in a penny card game. My sister-in-laws previous bid had been $.03. They didn’t speak for a while after that.
- The Drunken Douche Dust-Off, where my wife and I had a fight because her family was particularly aggravating and I let her know. She said I was ruining her day with my complaining. We didn’t speak for a day or two.
- The “Share Share That’s Fair” Scare, when I complained that I never see my family on the holidays anymore. The next year we solved that problem by actually seeing my family. I remembered why we don’t see them, so it’s better now.
The past three years are memorable because again we’ve been fighting over gravy. The first year someone was supposed to bring it and arrived asking “do you have a cookbook?” We ended up using jar gravy. Last year the gravy came out so bad that we had to reach into the cabinet and pull out packaged gravy (which we laid in just in case.) This year after an hour of preparation, the gravy was not thickening (which wasn’t mentioned at all on the Internet recipe she consulted) so we added the proverbial emergency package of gravy mix to thicken it up.
And so we wrap up another Thanksgiving Day, joyfully sending our families on their way, reciting the mantra we hope to remember for next year…
“I couldn’t ask you to do the gravy. That’s too much. What vegetable would you like to bring?”
Hope you had a happy day!
If you ever need me to bring gravy, let me know. I like making gravy, and I love eating it.
PS I forgot to leave you the baritone CD, so I’ll bring it by tomorrow?
B
Vinny, I wish I had known you were in gravy distress. Next year use this:
http://www.marthastewart.com/article/perfect-gravy
You’ll thank me.
My mother-in-law was kind enough to host Thanksgiving this year. However, I did spending yesterday “revisiting” our feast. I think it was either some undercooked stuffing or her new pumpkin chiffon recipe. Ugh! Hope you and yours had a fabulous day, gravy aside.
Oh no, MapleMama! We had that happen at a New Year’s party once. Not to one of us, but my daughter was in range when another partygoer was ‘revisiting’ the Cornish Hens. A 3:00 AM shower was in order.
Julie- that Martha site looks great! I’ll be looking there next time I make gravy.