Thanksgiving is usually a null point for most families waiting for Christmas to come around (it is the vice president to Christmas after all) but for my family, Thanksgiving is a very important holiday. It’s the first time us kids are able to come back home after the school year has started and when my dad can cook as much food as his little heart desires. My family has lots of tradition embedded in thanksgiving, so if you have nowhere to go this year and feel like having a fun filled weekend, here are five things you should know when spending thanksgiving with my family.

1. Be prepared to eat a lot of food, repeatedly

At my house, food is always the center of attention. My dad especially loves Thanksgiving dinner because it is finally appropriate for him to make as much food as he normally does for everyone and it will all get eaten….eventually. Even breakfast is a feast! Just make sure you are prepared to have delicious thanksgiving left-overs for the rest of the week because that is how much food he will make for everyone. Who doesn’t want turkey sandwiches for the next six days right?! I should also warn you that thanksgiving dinner with my dad is not completely the traditional American dinner. We do have turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing but we also have dishes from our Syrian heritage which include but are not limited to; Syrian bread, Baklava, chicken and burgle, and of course, ambrosia salad.

2. All of the Christmas lights will be placed on the house and you will help

The day after Thanksgiving is what’s known as tradition day at my house. Tradition day is where we wake up early on Friday morning and instead of going Black Friday shopping like the rest of America, we avoid the stores entirely and put up Christmas lights on my mom’s house, and when I say we put up lights, it’s not just a couple strings around the roof and windows. My mom goes all out every year to have the most decorated house on the street. This is the one part of the year where you can see down our street because the Christmas lights replace the lack of street lights on our street. We usually start at about 8:00am and end around 4:00pm with no breaks in-between. We put on our warm clothes, blast the Christmas music radio and decorate till we can’t decorate no more! Even though decorating can be draining, my mom rewards us every year with a treat afterward. This year we got to go to a Blazer game and they won! The time passes quickly when our friends decided to join in the decorating so if you come over to our house next year, you’d better be prepared to work and have a lot of fun doing it.

3. You will never be bored and that might mean very little hours of sleep.

Our family is crazy active and don’t spend much time sitting on our butts, or sleeping for that matter. Whether we are cooking food, taking family trips to cut down a Christmas tree or just spending the day outside with friends, we are always moving. Eventually we wind down for the day but that doesn't mean we have stopped. Our night life usually involves lots of friends at my dad’s house playing board games and video games alike. If everyone agrees we will watch a movie or two but the Palmiter house doesn't actually go to sleep till about one or two in the morning. If you decide to spend Thanksgiving with us I promise you, you will have an awesome time but you might have to catch up on some z’s when it’s over.

I love Thanksgiving at my house. Even though it can be stressful at times, when it comes down to it, everyone has a smile on their face by the end of the weekend. So if you are looking for an awesome Thanksgiving time, you will always be welcome at the Palmiter’s.