• About Us
    • Advertise
      • Sizes & Specs
    • Previous Issues
    • Submissions
    • Scene Team
      • Contact Us
  • Scene Lately
    • Downtown Scene
    • North Side Scene
    • South Side Scene
  • Calendar
    • #EventsToBeScene
    • Events We Are Excited About
    • Theatre Events
  • Printables
  • Subscribe
  • Reader Survey

Abilene Scene

Art, Culture & Happenings in Abilene, Texas!

  • Abilene Eats
    • Abilene Eats Out
    • Abilene Eats In
  • Artfully Abilene
    • Center for Contemporary Art
    • The Grace
    • NCCIL
    • Paramount
    • Philharmonic
  • Featured Stories
    • Culture
    • Fake Your Way
    • Health
    • Travel
    • Business
  • People
    • Abilene Influencers
    • Abilene Influencer Nomination
    • Day in the Life
    • Everyday Heroes
  • Homes
    • Abilene Open Houses
    • A Look Inside
    • Lawn & Garden
    • DIY
  • New On The Scene
  • Shopping
  • Restaurants
You are here: Home / Blog / Best Practices for Holiday Family Gatherings

Best Practices for Holiday Family Gatherings

November 2, 2015 Leave a Comment

Thanksgiving approaches.  Halloween is over and your extra eager friends are already listening to Christmas Music.  Families are planning to gather for Thanksgiving.  While for the most part family gatherings are a time for loving reunions, they can also be one of the biggest holiday stressors.  Here are a few tips for handling the family gatherings to come.

 

Step 1: Plan ahead.

By now you should know how your families react to certain situations.  If Grandpa gets hangry and the children get bored and ornery, plan accordingly.  Make sure there are plenty of snacks readily available for those who need them, and plan activities to keep busy hands and bodies occupied.  We like these Thanksgiving themed activities for kids:

Building with Candy Pumpkins

Turkey Baster Relay Race

Leaf Turkey Craft for Kids

 

Step 2: Prep your meals.

Missing out on family fun because of prepping for “the big meal” can cause a stress on you if you don’t get to see your family as often as you would like.  Prepping as much as possible ahead of time definitely assures that you spend less time in the kitchen the day of Thanksgiving.  It also cuts back on clean-up, which is something all of us can get on board for.  More time for parade/football watching is never a bad thing.   Side dishes are a great place to save time.  Many can be completely assembled and stored ahead of time with no impact on taste. We found a nice comprehensive list of sides for you to choose from this year:

Thanksgiving-Side-Dishes

 

Step 3: Be Helpful

If you are not hosting the family make sure that you are available to help those who are! Over your services to those who are busy prepping the meals.  Offer to clean up, run errands for those overlooked grocery items, or even set the table while food is in the oven.

thankstable

 

Believe us, because we’ve put these to the test!  These small steps work wonders in lowering the stress of family gathering.

Happy Holidays!

 

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Story Tagged With: blog, Christmas, feature, featured, Holiday

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sign Up for Scene Now!

Subscribe: Newsletter | Magazine

July/August 2025

Abilene Influencers

Read the full issue of Abilene Scene online by clicking the cover image above.

Connect with us online.

Facebook spacer Twitter spacer Instagram spacer Pinterest

Recent Posts

Staycation Adventures

National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature: Tuesdays at 2

Game On

Straworth: A Story of Craft, Connection and Cultural Worth

Watermelon Slushies

Abilene Scene

3457 Curry Lane
Abilene, TX 79606
325.673.4822
abilenescene@zacpubs.com

Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

Cookie Policy

Cookie Policy

Categories

© 2025 · Zachry Publications