I'm Quite Likely in Trouble

We skipped Thanksgiving this year. My family decided that nobody wanted to cook this year, even though my dad and his girlfriend who are staying with us this weekend offered to do it. So they chose to eat at a hotel with a buffet instead, at 6pm. My kid goes to be at 7pm, give or take no more than ten minutes. And the hotel is located a good twenty minute drive from our house. Does this sound like a recipe for disaster for you too? Because it does for me and hubby.

I told my dad I didn't like this plan. I told him it really conflicted with my rather regimented schedule for the baby. But they didn't either A) want to order it in from the hotel, B) eat at 3pm, or C) cook themselves. I told him I made no guarantees we will be there. We didn't go.

Instead our family of three spent the day in a beautiful small town about two hours from here. We walked along the water, looked at the boats and just enjoyed the wonderful weather, just our little family. We had a simple dinner of spaghetti at home and the baby went to bed easily and right on time.

My dad called me wondering where we were. He was rather shocked when I told him, even though it's not so far fetched. We are known to take the baby out for mini road trips to new and exciting places. But I could hear the disappointment in his voice when he realized that we weren't coming. I told him we never said for sure that we would be able to make it, and that I was very unhappy with what time it was.

So this is pretty much the first time that I've done this, skipped a family meal I mean. I'm anticipating some serious fallout. I'll likely be hearing about this until Christmas. But I'm not worried. I come from a very small family. My dad has one sister who only has one child and then I'm an only child. Other than my daughter, the last baby to be born in our family was me. So they just don't get that she has a schedule and we stick to it like glue. Having her eat supper and then go to bed late is among the worst ideas in human history. I can safely say that all the other diners would be giving thanks that we stayed home. Kidlet isn't thirteen weeks and super portable, will sleep anywhere, only to wake up every few hours to eat. Nor is she thirteen years with bedtime of 10pm and easily adaptable to change. She is thirteen months, so very dependent on her routine. I will defend our choice to the end and I will not feel badly that we skipped a restaurant Thanksgiving.