Ah, the holidays, a time when we all travel home to see our loved ones, get a little break from the semester, and eat so much that we're forced to go put on our stretchy pants. (Don't play, we all have them.) There are so many great aspects of Thanksgiving that can be perfectly explained through a series of images like these. Here are the stages of thanksgiving dinner.
1. Seeing the clingy relatives you've been avoiding on Facebook for months.
"Kaitlyn, you've gotten so big. Come here and give me some love." Don't get me wrong, I love my family. I'm thankful for every single of one of them. It's just whenever holidays come around, there are always those in-laws who want to hug you until you're blue in the face, kiss you and get their cheap, horribly odored lipstick all over your face, and ask you a million questions when all you want is turkey.
2. The dreaded questionnaire about every aspect of your life.
This is by far my most dreaded part of Thanksgiving dinner. As you sit down to eat your abundance of home-cooked, non-cafeteria-made food, you get bombarded with a novel of questions that you have been avoiding since you last saw your entire family. "Do you have a boyfriend? Yes? Why isn't he here with us? You don't have a boyfriend by now? Wow. How's school? Are your grades good? When are you going to give us access to those? Why do you have no money?" Seriously, I just want to eat my turkey and stay away from the nonsense. Let's talk about sports or climate change. Literally anything else please.
3. Trying to pick at the food in the kitchen before it's done and trying not to get caught.
Why wait for all the family to arrive? I'm hungry now. You make me wait to eat, you better believe I'm sneaking to where the food is with hopes of Grandma not slapping my hand.
3. The traditional "go around the table and say what you're thankful for" speech.
If you have as many relatives as I do, or even if you're just impatient and your stomach is already hangry (hungry as well as angry), then you can't stand this part. Let's make this short and sweet, shall we? Twenty years later and we can finally eat.
4. That moment the turkey arrives in front of you.
This is a glorious moment within the dinner. Even if you eat duck, ham, or no meat at all, we all have that one dish that makes us wanna sing because hey, finally the food part has arrived.
5. Having to play with your young cousins and other relatives and keep them entertained to the best of your ability.
I'd say I'm pretty good with kids, but this is almost always a part of Thanksgiving festivities. Your aunt and uncles throw these children at you if you look like you're done eating, and you either have to be their own personal jungle gym or find animate objects to help you entertain them.
7. Dessert.
Don't mind me, I'm just going to try every single kind of pie and dessert prepared even though I can barely unbutton my pants right now.
8. The traditional "aftermath nap."
Meals such as these can wear you out. A nap is essential at this point in time. This food ain't gonna digest itself.
9. The decorating for Christmas.
My family always starts decorating for Christmas at Thanksgiving. Not too early, not too late, and you have plenty of people to help, cause who in the world wants to hang every single ornament by themselves? Not I, homie.
10. Looking around and actually realizing how blessed you really are.
Yes, you may have some annoying relatives like I do, but nothing gives you quite the feeling like coming together as family and friends for Thanksgiving. You're surrounded by people that support you and love you when you're unlovable. Oh, and this can only mean one thing... Christmas is coming!!
