It was fine. It's just us 3 for Thanksgiving and we did our own thing. Kiddo tried some new-to-him foods and helped cook. Husband has been working on a project in the garage. I cleaned out a bunch of stuff from kiddo's room and the hall closet. I got some partial details from my sister regarding How Weird Was Dad Today? (Answer: Very!) Apparently he gave a sermon at the dinner table and made everyone uncomfortable because he was melodramatic and overbearing about it, insisting we're all in grave peril from...? We don't know what. 🤷‍♂️

@PeterPan I think it's immaturity, mostly. It wouldn't surprise me if he had some executive functioning issues because everyone in this family has some EF issues to a degree. In general, having fewer choices is better for me and for him. Too many choices means I dither around. Too many choices for him means he won't make a choice. Combined with overly generous relatives who also guilt him a bit ("Oh, you can't get rid of that! Aunt So-and-so gave you that!") means stuff piles up. He did agree to letting go of a huge pile of books and didn't say anything when I pulled the hotwheels cars out. Zero drama when I took them out. I have some stuff that is going to be donated. I am embarrassed to say that we have gifts from last Christmas in the shrinkwrap, (the relatives bought WAY too much last year). I am going to bring those things over to Blue Santa.

Did you have bronchitis? You can cough for 6+ weeks with that. When I've had bronchitis I need an albuterol inhaler AND a steroid inhaler. Cough suppressants don't really help me much. Feel better!

I see we are related! My dad also tells weird stories to show how clever he is and brings hangers-on. Dad and youngest sister have had some big arguments because he wanted to bring a bunch of randos to sister's birthday party every year.

Kiddo is 11 and I still initiate the twice a year purge of his room. Relatives have been very generous with him, so he gets a LOT of stuff. If I don't go through it twice a year, he'd be buried in books and stuffies. I've pulled out 3 big boxes of books, a chair, plus a huge bin of hotwheels cars that has not been touched in over a year. It escaped the last two purges because DS and DH got sentimental and said "Well, maybe those will get played with later...". Didn't happen. There is dust on the bin. There are *easily* 3 more boxes of things I could pull out of there: random art projects, Home Depot Kids crafts, stuffies that haven't seen the light of day in a year, etc. I feel like, if I have to remind him to play with stuff, then it probably needs to go. Except then he gets annoyed and says "Well, I'll play with it later...". Or DH will say "Well, I got that for him! You can't just get rid of it!" Ugh. If I don't do a twice a year purge, we're over-run with stuff and then DS11 has a hard time making decisions on what to play with or read. He also seems reluctant to say "I don't want this" when someone gives him their random stuff. For example, DH gave DS an old bowling ball from when DH was 14. MIL kept this stupid bowling ball for 33 years and then gave it to DH because she didn't want it anymore. DH doesn't want it in his closet, so he gave it to DS because "he likes bowling". The ball is way too heavy for DS to use and the finger holes need to be filled and redrilled. I'm like, this is dumb. Get rid of the bowling ball! DS likes bowling, but not enough to warrant his own ball. But DH is like noooo, I gave him that ball! Ugh, yeah, because you didn't want it and you didn't want to upset MIL by saying no when she didn't want it! It's not a precious father-son moment! You're playing hot potato with a bowling ball! Am I being a big meanie? How old were your kids when you stopped making the final decision on what stays or goes in their room?

When DH and I were debating moving out of state, I told him there was utterly no way I was leaving without my Speed Queen!

Mine does, too. He buys whatever he likes for himself, and then I'm left scrambling to find something to give him, (which is why MIL infuriates me when she buys him the same dang thing!). I told him if he didn't give me some solid gift ideas asap, he was getting underwear.

Oh sug, RUN. Stay far, far away from this woman and her problem family!

This is how it was in my family, too, both my mother's side and father's side. Whoever hosted did the cooking. I have no idea if they split the cost between the families, but I doubt it since hosting duties rotated each holiday. I was never assigned anything to bring, but always asked if there was something I could bring. Sometimes my aunt would send me out to grab ice cream or paper towels, or some other random thing that was needed. Holiday dinners with my dad's family were usually for 20-30 people and a sit down affair. My mom's family was dinner for 8-10, also a sit down affair and slightly more stuffy/formal. DH's family only does potluck holidays.

My sister rolled up one year 30 minutes late with an un-prepared pie. As in, a box of premade pie crust and cans of pumpkin. I had a tiny, apartment kitchen with about 3 feet of counter space and no room to whip up pies on the fly. I wanted to strangle her. Now I know not to depend on her for anything like that. She's going to be late and unprepared and that's how it is.

Seriously, he's dead?! Wow, I had no idea! Lol!!! Oh, now I feel bad! 🤣

Burt Reynolds. He's not in very much these days, but I cannot stand him. I have no idea why anyone thought he was so hot back in the day. I loathe Quentin Tarantino. He comes across as feeling very impressed with himself. Bleh. Lena Dunham is another one I won't watch. Bleh.

I'm in a really rude, snarky mood, because when I thought of "who would you give this to?", my first reaction was "My SIL, because she's such a tw@t". (I'm definitely not getting into heaven at this rate)

Hurray! No puppy! I have pets but loathe the idea of bringing them with me anywhere.

Oh gosh, y'all. I am laughing so hard at this thread. 🤣 I'm not a foodie at all. Stove top stuffing or home made stuffing? It's all fine with me! I'm just happy I got an invite! Canned cranberry sauce vs home made? Whatever you want! It's fine! Crescent rolls from a tube? No worries! Looks great! But that gravy...

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Stuff like that just feels (IMO) like they'd rather you didn't come. Or they're punishing you for living far away. "Let's make this as difficult as possible so they get the hint we're mad without us having to be the bad guys that say 'we are mad'".

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Thanks, I needed the laugh!

There was someone on a fb group that was insisting on giving their 13 year old niece a gift basket of handmade, re-usable feminine supplies for Christmas. I was arguing strongly that this was a *terrible* gift to give a 13 year old girl, in front of her entire family. Got kicked out of the group for it, too! (Sorry 13 year old, where ever you are! I tried!).

I suspect that my in-laws think I am "that relative". I'm not really sure what I did to earn the title, other than I did everything differently than they usually do it, which made things "Wrong". Now I"m never allowed to host a holiday meal. 😕 After I hosted the first time, (I happily did all the cooking), MIL and SIL teamed up and insisted on bringing ALL the food the next holiday. No joke, I received a paper invitation in the mail to dinner at my own house, listing what everyone was bringing. I was tasked with making "a tossed salad". No one had discussed this with me prior. They decided amongst themselves to divvy up the menu and assign me something without talking to me, the hostess of this meal. In case you are having trouble picturing this, it was a written invite saying "Please come to Ms Lemon's Home for Thanksgiving at 2pm. Menu as follows: MIL -turkey and rolls SIL potatoes and ham Aunt -green beans and sweet potatoes Cousin -pumpkin and apple pies Uncle -drinks Miss Lemon -tossed salad This caused a big fight between me and DH, because I was like "Um, this is weird" and he wanted me to let it go and not make a fuss. And when it came time to eat? No one touched the fecking tossed salad and DH kept saying "Doesn't anyone want some of this salad?! It's so good, you should try some!" I hated him a bit in that moment. Every year since, MIL makes a point of saying in a stage whisper to SIL "This is so much better! And there's no fancy Waterford crystal to worry about *eyeroll*". Apparently, using the nice glasses my dad bought me was an issue, as was using my grandma's china. 😞 Btw, holiday meals at MIL and SIL's home feature take-out on paper plates, not enough chairs, and generic gifts from the dollar store. Someone has to sit on the floor because there isn't enough room and last year, the floor hadn't been cleaned. I cried a lot about this. I still don't really understand what I did wrong. 😞

Even if they had a 3rd pie, they'd still probably take half of one they brought to the meal. Just because they can!

For Thanksgiving, we are having a turkey from the local smokehouse. I am being super lame and doing store bought sides. I would rather hang out than fuss over food for just us 3. I would love to have fondue, but I am the only one who's eat it! We have had tamales on CE, too. I haven't found anyone that is making them this year, so I might be getting store bought.

Uncommon goods often has some neat things. Peanut Butter Sampler Banned Book Socks Popcorn on the Cob