Tips for Thanksgiving Dinner Dates
Tips For Surviving Thanksgiving Dinner with Your Date
Relationship Advice Expert April Masini
Advice Seeker: Dear April Masini,
My boyfriend and I are combining our families for our first Thanksgiving dinner all together. I'm excited, but really nervous as well. Both of our families have some members with extremely strong personalities and I'm worried about clashing, as well as making sure I make a good impression on his family. Do you have any advice for how we can survive Thanksgiving dinner?
Sincerely,
I'll Be Thankful to Get Through it
April Masini's advice:
Dear I'll Be Thankful to Get Through it,
It can be a nerve-racking experience, but following my simple advice will ensure that your Thanksgiving dinner with your date is as smooth as possible.
Surviving the Thanksgiving dinner:
1. Don't talk about religion, politics, or abortion. Or any other topic that you know will start a "lively confrontation" or one that gets "so lively" there is a need for cleaning blood off the walls afterwards. Do talk about things you like, things the other person likes and if you don't like anything and they don't like anything, there's always the weather, or what a great job the evening's hostess did this year.
2. Do not belch, fart, or stretch and yawn where you let out a noise that could be mistaken for an animal at the zoo or in the wild. Do keep your elbows off the table, ask for seconds and thirds and compliment the cook.
3. Do offer to help setting up, serving, or cleaning up if you want brownie points - or if you belched, farted, or stretched and yawned where you let out a noise that could be mistaken for a zoo animal or a wild animal. Damage control does work. Sometimes.
4. Do mingle if you find yourself in a snoozer of a conversation or in one that you feel will get confrontational. Simply say, "Excuse me, I'm going to see if the hostess needs some help," and then get up and move on. Before you say something you'll regret. Before. Not after.
5. If you're not the host family, bring a hostess gift. Do not show up empty-handed. A bottle of wine, flowers, a plate of bakery cookies, some candles, or nice soap all work. The gift is for the woman of the house who does the cooking. Do not consider a year's subscription to a naked woman magazine for the man of the house an appropriate hostess gift. You will not be invited back next year.
6. If you really want brownie points, very good manners dictate that you send a thank you note the next day. A simple note that says, Thank you for the lovely evening. Everything was so perfect -- from the food to the flowers to the company. I had a wonderful time. Thank you for your hospitality."
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April Masini -- nicknamed "the new millennium's Dear Abby" by the media, is author of the best-selling books Date Out Of Your League and Think & Date Like A Man, the two (just released) step-by-step dating and relationship manuals, Ideas for a Fun Date and Romantic Date Ideas, and the critically acclaimed dating and relationship online magazine www.AskApril.com.
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