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Home › Articles › Holiday: Winter › Too Many Chefs...

Too Many Chefs...

Help Mom at Thanksgiving by Entertaining the Kids

By I.J. Schecter

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Help Mom stay laser-focused by asking her what to pack the night before and getting it all prepared. Stay out for the entire morning or the entire afternoon – or, if you can hack it, the whole day. You'll have fun with your kids, and she'll get some uninterrupted hours to be her ultra-creative, super-efficient self.

"Whenever my wife needs to focus, I put my daughter in her stroller and go for a walk around the neighborhood," says Ken Fridman of Toronto, Canada, dad to 1-year-old Maya. "Sometimes I just plunk her on my shoulders and head around the block a few times."

Involve Them – Indirectly
Even if you think it's a good idea to get out of the house, your kids won't always agree, much less cooperate. Sometimes the draw of Mom using all those fancy tools in the kitchen is irresistible to a 1-year-old or 3-year-old alike. Instead of getting into a war over why no one can go in the kitchen for another two hours and 17 minutes, make up games related to Mom's activity without having to invade her space.

Suggest a guessing game whre everyone makes predictions about what she's making, with the winner getting a prize. Or organize your own pretend-play kitchen in which you can make Bristol-board bread sticks to accompany mom's turkey, or draw a layout of how you think the dinner table should look and who should sit where, including a funny caricature of Uncle Stan and his outlandish ties. Or take some real food from the kitchen to use in your own game.


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