{"id":5990,"date":"2019-11-19T10:33:05","date_gmt":"2019-11-19T15:33:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mominthecity.com\/?p=5990"},"modified":"2023-05-11T07:23:54","modified_gmt":"2023-05-11T11:23:54","slug":"thanksgiving-with-small-kids-around","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/thanksgiving-with-small-kids-around\/","title":{"rendered":"11 Simple Thanksgiving Entertaining Ideas…With Kids Around"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since Thanksgiving is next week, I asked Debra Kavalos-Delaney, an entertaining expert, to write a guest post regarding entertaining on Thanksgiving when you have kids around. Debra, who has a varied career background, is the founder of MemorableEntertaining.com, an interactive website. MemorableEntertaining.com was created for occasions like Thanksgiving, so I was happy to read her tips.
<\/strong>\"holidaytable\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I always look forward to the impending holidays with equal parts of joy and dread. Excitement about spending time with friends and family, and the unique energy and bustle in the air that only comes with the holiday season\u2026<\/p>\n

Then I look at my already \u2018filled to over flowing\u2019 schedule and wonder \u2013 \u201cHow will I find time to prepare for the holidays?\u201d<\/p>\n

So how do you prepare for Thanksgiving in such a way that you\u2019re not exhausted, have time to enjoy your guests\u2019, be sure the kids have fun and the grown-ups get to spend some quality time together?<\/p>\n

In the early days I thought nothing of spending 18 or 20 hours in the kitchen preparing the perfect holiday meal. Perhaps it\u2019s the passing years or wisdom has prevailed, but I now approach Thanksgiving or any holiday dinner for that matter with military precision! How many, how much time, what are my resources and what is my diversionary tactic strategy if kids are on the invite list.<\/p>\n\n\n

Tips for Thanksgiving Dinner<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Menu<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

o Balance your menu with items that can be made and frozen, store-bought items and recipes that can be made one or two days in advance (such as side dishes and desserts).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

o If guests offer to bring something, take them up on the offer. Hear there suggestion to see if it fits with your menu or better yet, they may ask you what you would like them to bring \u2013 one less thing for you to do!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

o Reserve Thanksgiving Day for preparing the turkey, making the gravy, last-minute prep and enjoying your company!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Table<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

o Set your table up to a week in advance and add flowers the day before. Or there are many creative centerpiece options that use no flowers or very few flowers if you are all thumbs when it comes to flower arranging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Thanksgiving<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

o Place cards: use fruits or vegetables to create interesting place cards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Thanksgiving<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

o Set up a separate kid\u2019s table. Cover it with craft or butcher\u2019s paper and set out baskets or cups filled with crayons. When all the kids arrive have them \u2018decorate the tablecloth\u2019. Stage plates, utensils, etc. on the side. Let the older kids set the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Entertainment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

o Choose some kid-friendly videos for the young guests to enjoy before or after dinner. Set out baskets of popcorn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

o Place a puzzle on a table for guests to work on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

o Set-up a craft table where kids can make paper bag turkeys, play Thanksgiving tic-tac-toe or coloring pages printed out of turkeys, pilgrims, etc. for them to color.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

o Set up a treasure hunt<\/p>\n\n\n\n

o If it\u2019s a nice day, there\u2019s always football!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hopefully, the above tips will help to alleviate some holiday stress. Happy entertaining!
<\/em>
{Updated: Originally posted on November 20, 2009}<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since Thanksgiving is next week, I asked Debra Kavalos-Delaney, an entertaining expert, to write a guest post regarding entertaining on Thanksgiving when you have kids around. Debra, who has a varied career background, is the founder of MemorableEntertaining.com, an interactive … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34469,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n11 Simple Thanksgiving Entertaining Ideas...With Kids Around<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/thanksgiving-with-small-kids-around\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"11 Simple Thanksgiving Entertaining Ideas...With Kids Around\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Since Thanksgiving is next week, I asked Debra Kavalos-Delaney, an entertaining expert, to write a guest post regarding entertaining on Thanksgiving when you have kids around. Debra, who has a varied career background, is the founder of MemorableEntertaining.com, an interactive ... Read More\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/thanksgiving-with-small-kids-around\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mom in the City\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-11-19T15:33:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-05-11T11:23:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/11-Simple-Thanksgiving-Entertaining-Ideas...With-Kids-Around.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"275\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"206\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kimberly\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@mominthecity\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@mominthecity\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kimberly\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/thanksgiving-with-small-kids-around\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/thanksgiving-with-small-kids-around\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kimberly\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/#\/schema\/person\/721489be0f7f92dfcc81529d34a9e6bc\"},\"headline\":\"11 Simple Thanksgiving Entertaining Ideas…With Kids Around\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-11-19T15:33:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-11T11:23:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/thanksgiving-with-small-kids-around\/\"},\"wordCount\":534,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/thanksgiving-with-small-kids-around\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/11-Simple-Thanksgiving-Entertaining-Ideas...With-Kids-Around.jpeg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/thanksgiving-with-small-kids-around\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/thanksgiving-with-small-kids-around\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/thanksgiving-with-small-kids-around\/\",\"name\":\"11 Simple Thanksgiving Entertaining Ideas...With Kids Around\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/thanksgiving-with-small-kids-around\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/thanksgiving-with-small-kids-around\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/11-Simple-Thanksgiving-Entertaining-Ideas...With-Kids-Around.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-11-19T15:33:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-11T11:23:54+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/thanksgiving-with-small-kids-around\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/thanksgiving-with-small-kids-around\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/thanksgiving-with-small-kids-around\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/11-Simple-Thanksgiving-Entertaining-Ideas...With-Kids-Around.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/11-Simple-Thanksgiving-Entertaining-Ideas...With-Kids-Around.jpeg\",\"width\":275,\"height\":206},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/thanksgiving-with-small-kids-around\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"11 Simple Thanksgiving Entertaining Ideas…With Kids Around\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/\",\"name\":\"Mom in the City\",\"description\":\"Food, Wellness & Reinvention\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Mom in the City\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.mominthecity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/cropped-mitc2021.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.mominthecity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/cropped-mitc2021.jpg\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Mom in the City\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/x.com\/mominthecity\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/#\/schema\/person\/721489be0f7f92dfcc81529d34a9e6bc\",\"name\":\"Kimberly\",\"description\":\"Mom in the City owner and Co-founder\/CEO of RK Responsive Design. Santa Claus wannabe. Scheduling ninja. Supreme sleeper.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/x.com\/mominthecity\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/author\/administrator\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"11 Simple Thanksgiving Entertaining Ideas...With Kids Around","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/thanksgiving-with-small-kids-around\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"11 Simple Thanksgiving Entertaining Ideas...With Kids Around","og_description":"Since Thanksgiving is next week, I asked Debra Kavalos-Delaney, an entertaining expert, to write a guest post regarding entertaining on Thanksgiving when you have kids around. Debra, who has a varied career background, is the founder of MemorableEntertaining.com, an interactive ... Read More","og_url":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/thanksgiving-with-small-kids-around\/","og_site_name":"Mom in the City","article_published_time":"2019-11-19T15:33:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-05-11T11:23:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":275,"height":206,"url":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/11-Simple-Thanksgiving-Entertaining-Ideas...With-Kids-Around.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kimberly","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@mominthecity","twitter_site":"@mominthecity","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kimberly","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/thanksgiving-with-small-kids-around\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/thanksgiving-with-small-kids-around\/"},"author":{"name":"Kimberly","@id":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/#\/schema\/person\/721489be0f7f92dfcc81529d34a9e6bc"},"headline":"11 Simple Thanksgiving Entertaining Ideas…With Kids Around","datePublished":"2019-11-19T15:33:05+00:00","dateModified":"2023-05-11T11:23:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/thanksgiving-with-small-kids-around\/"},"wordCount":534,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/thanksgiving-with-small-kids-around\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/11-Simple-Thanksgiving-Entertaining-Ideas...With-Kids-Around.jpeg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/thanksgiving-with-small-kids-around\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/thanksgiving-with-small-kids-around\/","url":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/thanksgiving-with-small-kids-around\/","name":"11 Simple Thanksgiving Entertaining Ideas...With Kids Around","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/thanksgiving-with-small-kids-around\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/thanksgiving-with-small-kids-around\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/11-Simple-Thanksgiving-Entertaining-Ideas...With-Kids-Around.jpeg","datePublished":"2019-11-19T15:33:05+00:00","dateModified":"2023-05-11T11:23:54+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/thanksgiving-with-small-kids-around\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/thanksgiving-with-small-kids-around\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/thanksgiving-with-small-kids-around\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/11-Simple-Thanksgiving-Entertaining-Ideas...With-Kids-Around.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/11-Simple-Thanksgiving-Entertaining-Ideas...With-Kids-Around.jpeg","width":275,"height":206},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/thanksgiving-with-small-kids-around\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"11 Simple Thanksgiving Entertaining Ideas…With Kids Around"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/","name":"Mom in the City","description":"Food, Wellness & Reinvention","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/#organization","name":"Mom in the City","url":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.mominthecity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/cropped-mitc2021.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.mominthecity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/cropped-mitc2021.jpg","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Mom in the City"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/mominthecity"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/#\/schema\/person\/721489be0f7f92dfcc81529d34a9e6bc","name":"Kimberly","description":"Mom in the City owner and Co-founder\/CEO of RK Responsive Design. Santa Claus wannabe. Scheduling ninja. Supreme sleeper.","sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/mominthecity"],"url":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/author\/administrator\/"}]}},"mv":{"thumbnail_id":34469,"thumbnail_uri":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/11-Simple-Thanksgiving-Entertaining-Ideas...With-Kids-Around.jpeg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5990"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5990\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40007,"href":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5990\/revisions\/40007"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}