How I Survived Hosting Thanksgiving

How I Survived Hosting Thanksgiving

This past weekend was Canadian Thanksgiving and in all my infinite wisdom I thought it would be a brilliant idea to host the dinner. That’s right. A Thanksgiving dinner for 6 with all the trimmings at my house with my preschooler and my three month old. I don’t know what I was thinking either. Somehow, not only did I survive the event, but the dinner was awesome (if I do say so myself) and The Heir and Petit Prince were on their best behaviour. How did I pull this off? Let me tell you.

How I Survived Hosting Thanksgiving - baby wearing

Step one: Wear that baby! I could probably stop right here because baby wearing is the answer to all the things, but since there was a little more to it than that, I’ll keep going. Throughout the day I had Petit Prince up and on me to make everything else just a little easier. As I do most evenings when I’m preparing dinner, I had him up in a Moby Wrap in a front wrap cross carry. This allowed me to keep an eye on the stove and oven, sit comfortably when I didn’t need to check the turkey, and even eat my dinner. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Step two: Delegate! As much as I’d like to be able to say that I pulled off a turkey dinner all by myself, supermom that I am (*eyeroll*), I needed  a little lot of help. My mother in law brought the turkey, stuffing, and sweet potatoes, my step mother in law brought the dessert and wine, and I handled the potatoes, veggies, and cranberry sauce (yes, I make my own). I can’t stress this enough… When you’ve got a new baby at home and someone offers to help you, say yes. Always say yes.

How I Survived Hosting Thanksgiving - baby wearing

Step three: Do something to pass the time! A turkey takes a while to cook, so we could have spent a lot of time just sitting around staring at each other while The Heir ran around like he had ants in his pants. Do everyone a favour and get outside! We had a glorious warm day, so we took advantage of it! I put Petit Prince up in the Tula and we all headed out the door. Baby wearing to the rescue again! Pure bliss. Best of all, when we got back inside the house smelled like delicious turkey. Nom nom nom.

How I Survived Hosting Thanksgiving

And that, my friends, is how I pulled it off. It’s a good thing it worked out because I’m also hosting Christmas dinner this year. Why do I do this to myself?

How I Survived Hosting Thanksgiving

Have you hosted a holiday dinner? How did you pull it off?

TheMonarchMommy.com

5 Comments on “How I Survived Hosting Thanksgiving

  1. Pingback: Top Five Moments of 2015 - TheMonarchMommy

  2. Wonderful story! I love it! I agree baby wearing is a winning when you need to get things done and baby wants mommy. I baby wear my 23 months old daughter in the LILLEBABY and it’s the best when shopping at the store. I don’t have to chase her or fear of her falling from the shopping cart. I also nurse her in the carrier. when she was born I had the fluerville wrap. I love it ! From that I continue to wear her until she hate to be in the carrier.

  3. Thankfully we still live in a too small condo, so we can’t host anything! But we shall be buying a house in the next few years and we will be hosting most Holidays I’m sure! I’m going to have to remember that tip to take help! I’m always so bad at that!

  4. Preach mama!! #wearthatbaby!! Seriously a lifesaver!! I love the idea of activities in between too because you are right, turkey takes a long time to cook!! And lord know everyone gets impatient lol!!

  5. Thanksgiving is right around the corner. I can’t wait. This was a great article. Interested in how it goes for you this year. Thank you for sharing. God Bless

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