Some of us have kids of our own. We’re adults. We’re on time, we stock our own medicine cabinets and we sometimes use coupons when we don’t forget them at home. But somehow the mismatched charm of The Kids’ Table sort of beckons to us. Funny because it was a real affront when we were stuck there at 14, clearly not a kid. We longed for a comfy chair, a crystal water goblet and some adult gossip. And here we sit in our rightful spot, wondering where the years have gone and why we’re saying ‘You’ve gotten so big!’ to our nieces and nephews. We hated hearing it as a kid. How did we get here so fast? Planes, trains and automobiles, my friend. In fact, according to AAA, about 43.6 million of us traveled 50 or more miles to reach The Big People’s Table in 2012. And while AAA might tell us how to get there, who tells us what to do next? How about the AARP? They took a light-hearted leap over the generation gap with their
Thanksgiving Story Starters. Questions are designed to get people talking and they range from baby book milestones to earliest memories, Believe-It-or-Not’s to Juicy Secrets (save that for the after-dinner wine). How about some other ideas to take you from arrival to table talk, post-meal clean up to food coma:
- Technology. ‘Did you know Mavericks OSX is free?’ (What’s Mavericks?) ‘Let me show you.’ A little reverse mentoring in the holiday spirit is always a good thing. And everyone loves Angry Birds.
- Naps. Not just for babies anymore. Some people are more gifted than others.
- Walks. Around the block or in full-on turkey trot mode. Before or after your meal, it’ll bring a group together to walk, talk and do something good for yourselves.
- Football.
- The Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will take you from turkey in the oven (9AM EST) to turkey on the table (noon EST). And give everyone something to talk about. Check the lineup.
Try to remember the reason you’re together, that no one’s perfect (not even you) and that all this togetherness doesn’t last forever. For better or worse. And if the Big Table is too much for you? Toss in a few boxes of crayons and a craft paper tablecloth and call it a day. Uncle Glen draws a mean hand turkey. Happy Thanksgiving.
