Holiday Disasters

[donac]

I usually just cook for my inlaws on Thanksgiving and then visit with my family during the weekend since my mom's birthday is the 27th. But every now and then her birthday falls on Thanksgiving.

About 5 or 6 years ago it was on Thanksgiving. She sent out invitations and rented some hotel rooms. The hotel rooms were so that we could use the indoor pool. She had bought water pistols so we had a blast. BUT one of my sisters wanted to have the dinner at her house and my mom said no she wanted it at her house. So that sister decided not to come to dinner. She barely made it to the hotel with her daughter.

Flash forward to this year. Her birthday falls on Thanksgiving again. It is a little harder this year since dad died in April. We had a little to do about where Thanksgiving will be held but we got it straightened out. We are going out so no one has to cook or clean up But we just found out that my brother and his family HAS to be with her family So instead of having a family gathering to celebrate my mom and think about my dad we will all be sitting there cursing out my brother.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

We fondly refer to "that" Christmas as "Vomit Fest 2010"!

Hubby, kids and I spent that Christmas at his sister's house in another state. She hosted a big party for the extended family. When we got there she was cleaning the carpet. Her baby (youngest of 3) had thrown up. She figured he'd eaten too fast and all the excitement got to him.

When we got home the next day my teenage DS started throwing up. I posted on her Facebook page that it was a good thing we had gone home because our son was throwing up. Over the next couple of hours every single person from the party posted that they were puking too. At first we suspected food poisoning but my DH, DD and I never got sick and we ate the same food as everyone else. Turns out her baby had the stomach flu and every single person who held him or played with him got sick as a dog for 2 days! Baby Patient Zero infected 16 out of 19 people at the party!!!!

 

[Earstou]

We fondly refer to "that" Christmas as "Vomit Fest 2010"!
...Turns out her baby had the stomach flu and every single person who held him or played with him got sick as a dog for 2 days! Baby Patient Zero infected 16 out of 19 people at the party!!!!

We had a Thanksgiving like that! A relative decided their sick, vomiting child could not miss Thanksgiving dinner and didn't tell anyone he were sick until he threw up during dinner. Since most of us had held him or played with him, 18 out of the 20 people there got sick.
I was pregnant with ds and was the first to get sick, missing going to the movies with everyone on Friday. Then dh and dd were vomiting during the 3 hour car ride home. Not a fun way to travel!

 

[Caseheidi]

We have had a couple possible disasters that we managed to make the best of.

Christmas was on Sunday a few years ago. We got up early to open presents and eat breakfast before going to church. Half way through opening the presents, DD who was 2 at the time decided to crawl into my lap and snuggle. Then she quickly got up, moved into the middle of the room and threw up! After a quick bath and mop up, we canceled church, and called my family (who we were hosting that afternoon) to give them the choice of coming or not , and finished up opening presents when DD was up to it. My family decided it was no big deal, and DD acted like normal for the rest of the day.

Last year I hosted my DH's extended family for Thanksgiving. It was our first major holiday after DMIL had passed away, and I was determined to make it a good day for DH and DBIL. In their extended family there are three who are gluten free, two are corn free and one soy free. I spent the previous two months planning the menu, trying desperately to get input and help from the family. Only one person responded that they would bring something, and that was about two days before, after I had purchased everything to make doubles of several dishes (had to have regular for everybody else who did not want to eat gluten free). The input I did get from them was regarding the time to gather and eat.

So the day arrives, I discover that several other dishes are being brought that I was unaware of, luckily before I started preparing them myself. I have everything timed to come out and be ready for a 2 pm dinner as agreed, and no one has even arrived yet(they were all suppose to arrive 2 hrs before dinner). They arrived about 30 minutes later, and some still had to make and cook their dishes. So most of my food sat around for over an hour before we ate. I kind of grinned and bore it, letting go of my frustration so that DH and DBIL still had a good day.

 

[marmalade]

One year my cousin showed up uninvited with his disastrous dog, his wife cooked the turkey so long it was completely dry. My great aunts cat (don't even ask how that showed up at my house) chewed the wire to the Christmas tree and it started on fire burning it to a crisp. I got a new tree from outside but little did I know that there was a killer squirrel living inside of it.

Not to mention my work decided to not give me the Christmas bonus I was planning on using to put in an in-ground pool, instead I got a membership to the Jelly of the Month Club. There were cops involved and the swat team.

What a year!!

 

[tasha99]

My brother-in-law invited a work friend one year who got really drunk and buddy buddy with my dad. She told everyone just what a partier BIL was and that he smoked a ton of pot. News to my dad. Meanwhile, another BIL accidentally missed a decimal point on his bid and became the proud winner of a flame thrower on ebay (he didn't follow through with paying and flame throwers are not legal auction items).

 

[NFLDERS]

It was Christmas Eve my mom then 80 yrs old had gone outside to get her newspaper she slipped on ice fell, and broke her wrist. She & I spent the early afternoon in an ER.

We returned home with her arm in a cast. When it was time for a pain med it got stuck in her throat, and she became so agitated feeling she was choking; I called an ambulance and she was admitted her blood pressure was too high so they wanted to monitor it for a few hrs.

It was early evening before we returned home. My husband and I were hosting Christmas Day Dinner for 17!

One of the gifts she opened Christmas Morning was the newspaper!!

 

[NFLDERS]

One year my cousin showed up uninvited with his disastrous dog, his wife cooked the turkey so long it was completely dry. My great aunts cat (don't even ask how that showed up at my house) chewed the wire to the Christmas tree and it started on fire burning it to a crisp. I got a new tree from outside but little did I know that there was a killer squirrel living inside of it.

Not to mention my work decided to not give me the Christmas bonus I was planning on using to put in an in-ground pool, instead I got a membership to the Jelly of the Month Club. There were cops involved and the swat team.

What a year!!

Reads more like A Christmas Vacation.

 

[pkondz]

I've had two which could have been disasters...

1. We used to live in a small northern town. We thought it would be nice to host a small get together and I'd cook Chinese food.
I figured I could handle a fairly large group, say 10 - 12 guests.
I invited some people... My wife invited some people.
Then we sat down... "Uh, how many did you invite?"
"I'm not sure... how many did you invite?"

Turns out we had about 40 people over for dinner.

But it turned out to be a very fun and memorable time.
We had people sitting on every level surface and all the way up the stairs to the second floor as well as some outside.

2. After spending most of my life having my Mom cook for us at Christmas, I decided it was time I took over.
I did some research and decided that I wanted to brine the turkey. (and if you haven't, I highly recommend it!) So the turkey went in a big plastic container filled with the brine and ice packs (too big to fit in the fridge) and we put it downstairs, where it was coolest.
The next day, we noticed that the dog (yeah, you can already see where this is going, can't you?) wasn't underfoot like she normally is. "Where's the dog?" We call her and a few seconds later, she comes trotting into the kitchen.
"Why's her nose all wet?..... Uh, oh."
I race downstairs and... yup.
The dog's eaten the "butt" out of the turkey.

Luckily the damage wasn't too severe. I trimmed away where she'd munched, reasoning that a) No one's ever eaten the turkey butt (well except the dog); and b) Cooking the turkey should take care of any germs, right?
Right?

Actually, we were more worried about the dog getting sick, than we were of us getting sick.

 

[leebee]

DD, DH, and I were staying at my sister's for Christmas. We arrived on the 23rd and were going to stay until the 27th. On Christmas morning, I awoke fairly early (5:30-ish) and although I felt OK, I was really HOT- like I stood out in the garage in my nightgown (Maine in December) to try and cool down. That helped a bit. The kids got up and we all started opening presents. I was feeling worse and worse… and worse. To this day I cannot tell you what anyone got that Christmas. I went upstairs to lie down, and within 10 minutes I was in the bathroom, using the potty and a trash bag at the same time! I was SO sick! I was sick like this for about 24 hours. It was horrible… and as it was Christmas, my sister was cooking prime rib, shrimp, etc., the smell of which made me feel even worse! Even after I stopped vomiting, etc., I was just wiped out. We stayed about 5 days longer than we should have, and even then, I had to drag myself home.

Then there was the T-giving at my SIL's house, with DH's extended family (27 of us for dinner). This is referred to in family lore as "Don't eat the oyster stuffing" Thanksgiving- only the kids (who didn't try the stuffing) weren't sick. The rest of us?

 

[lauradis]

I've had two which could have been disasters...

1. We used to live in a small northern town. We thought it would be nice to host a small get together and I'd cook Chinese food.
I figured I could handle a fairly large group, say 10 - 12 guests.
I invited some people... My wife invited some people.
Then we sat down... "Uh, how many did you invite?"
"I'm not sure... how many did you invite?"

Turns out we had about 40 people over for dinner.

But it turned out to be a very fun and memorable time.
We had people sitting on every level surface and all the way up the stairs to the second floor as well as some outside.

2. After spending most of my life having my Mom cook for us at Christmas, I decided it was time I took over.
I did some research and decided that I wanted to brine the turkey. (and if you haven't, I highly recommend it!) So the turkey went in a big plastic container filled with the brine and ice packs (too big to fit in the fridge) and we put it downstairs, where it was coolest.
The next day, we noticed that the dog (yeah, you can already see where this is going, can't you?) wasn't underfoot like she normally is. "Where's the dog?" We call her and a few seconds later, she comes trotting into the kitchen.
"Why's her nose all wet?..... Uh, oh."
I race downstairs and... yup.
The dog's eaten the "butt" out of the turkey.

Luckily the damage wasn't too severe. I trimmed away where she'd munched, reasoning that a) No one's ever eaten the turkey butt (well except the dog); and b) Cooking the turkey should take care of any germs, right?
Right?

Actually, we were more worried about the dog getting sick, than we were of us getting sick.

turkey butt

 

[LBIJim]

Probably not considered a disaster to most, but for me it was.

I woke up extra early to get started on Thanksgiving lunch for my DH's family that was in town for Thanksgiving. I also had to cook a giant bird for my family that we would be eating at in the afternoon. I slaved in my kitchen for HOURS! All by myself making potatoes, broccoli casserole, green beans, corn pudding, rolls from scratch, pie, dressing, gravy, cranberries and turkey. I got out all of my nice dishes and made a beautiful table setting.

We sat down to eat any everyone said they weren't really hungry. Not hungry? You haven't eaten breakfast yet! They each made tiny plates, left food still on their plates and then pulled out a store bought pie my DMIL brought down with her to eat for dessert. Not one thank you or acknowledgement of anything tasting yummy. I made up some reason to leave and got in my car and drove to my moms where I lost it and cried like a baby. I had never felt so unappreciated in my life. When I got back I finished up my other Turkey which DH and I took to my grandparents where everyone said how juicy and tasty it was.

I learned my lesson. I no longer slave over a meal for my in-laws. We go out to eat on Thanksgiving.

You sure handled it better than I would have. That turkey would have been shoved up someone's butt and the carving knife in somebody else's skull!!

One year my cousin showed up uninvited with his disastrous dog, his wife cooked the turkey so long it was completely dry. My great aunts cat (don't even ask how that showed up at my house) chewed the wire to the Christmas tree and it started on fire burning it to a crisp. I got a new tree from outside but little did I know that there was a killer squirrel living inside of it.

Not to mention my work decided to not give me the Christmas bonus I was planning on using to put in an in-ground pool, instead I got a membership to the Jelly of the Month Club. There were cops involved and the swat team.

What a year!!

Hey!! This sounds familiar. Are you SURE you didn't post this before?

 

[elphaba91]

1. The most disastrous would have to be Christmas 2005, the last year that we hosted (it used to alternate between our house and my aunt's place). A few days before Christmas my grandfather and his wife announced that they were bringing a girl that they had hosted when she was in high school (she was from Hong Kong but was going to school in Melbourne). Everyone had only met her a couple of times, so while it was fine, it wasn't exactly ideal. Then, two days before Christmas, my cousin rang and asked that one of her friends (who nobody had met before) be invited. Mum begrudgingly agreed. Then, on Christmas Eve, she rang again and asked to bring another friend. We already had two extras coming (and don't have a particularly large family) and her friends were both vegetarians, so it would mean there just weren't enough vegetables, so we said no.

My cousin turned up on Christmas Day, with one friend, with a real chip on her shoulder that her other guest had been turned down. Their behaviour suggested they may also have been partaking in some illicit substances before arriving. So things weren't great all day.

Then, while throwing some rubbish out, our kitchen bin fell apart, as it had done almost everyday for a couple of months. It was a kind of complicated thing with two metal arms and a plastic bag suspended between them. A few months earlier my cousin had borrowed my mum's drill 'for the weekend' and never returned it. My mum said, 'I've been cursing you each time this bin falls over. Could you please return my drill?'. With that, my cousin started yelling at my mum, which culminated in her picking up the toiletry bag we'd given her and she'd filled with other presents, and whacked my mum across the face with it. Naturally, my mum firmly told her to get out of her house, to which my cousin just laughed. My mum ended up storming out and my sister and I chased after her.

We ended up walking around the neighbourhood for about an hour and when we came back nearly everyone had gone. I think my aunt was still there (or maybe we spoke to her later) and she said that she had to side with my cousin 'because she is her daughter' - I can tell you that that is DEFINITELY not the reaction I would have got from my mum for assaulting my aunt!

It took quite a few months for some of those relationships to be repaired. Perhaps worst of all was, my aunt, being disorganised as usual, had simply written in a card that she was giving us tickets to The Lion King for Christmas (rather than buying actual tickets or even vouchers). Needless to say, we never saw the show. The Lion King is actually coming back to Melbourne next year and a few weeks ago my mum was telling my aunt what tickets we've got booked for next year (we're real musical theatre buffs) and she just couldn't tell her that we're seeing The Lion King for my birthday - it's still too raw!

2. We nearly had to skip Christmas altogether a few years ago. Christmas was going to be at my aunt's beach house, about 1.5 hours away. As we had quite a few presents, plus food and luggage to bring, we drove down a week or two beforehand to drop the presents off. On 23 December my mum's car (our only car) broke down on her way home from work. That in itself was a pain - I finished work at 10 and started at 8 the next morning (yay for retail!), when public transport is useless, so had to organise rides, while mum had to wait for the tow truck for a few hours and then walk from the auto shop (fortunately it's not that far, is next to the 24 hour Kmart and there is a house that does crazy Christmas decorations on the route so there were lots of people around).

The big problem though was that we now had no way to get to the Christmas celebrations, including all our presents, so it would make for a pretty miserable Christmas if we had to spend it at home! Luckily my aunt offered my uncle's car to us. So on Christmas Eve my mum prepared to take a bus, train and tram to my aunt's place, with a suitcase of clothes (because my uncle's car is very small, while my aunt has a large SUV). By sheer luck (maybe a Christmas miracle?) our neighbour had forgotten something at home on his way to work so had to turn back. He then saw my mum walking up to the bus stop and asked if she needed a lift anywhere. It turned out he worked right around the corner from my aunt's place! So Christmas was saved.

3. Not mine, but my mum, when she was little, woke up to the measles on Christmas morning. She got to watch her older sister play on her brand new set of monkey bars, while she had to stay inside.

4. Also not mine. Some family friends had one Christmas when one of their daughters had just got braces and the other had just had surgery to have her jaw realigned, while one of their cousins had just had her wisdom teeth out. It wasn't a very enjoyable meal for the kids.

 

[WowLookAtThat]

1. My mom's ex-boyfriend (they were dating at the time) spent an hour putting together my brother's new swing set. It wasn't ready by Christmas morning and my brother threw the mother of all tantrums (he was 7 so that was kind of stupid) and then my mom's ex got ticked and started in on him. So, then the ex gets angry because my mom and I were late making breakfast. So, then my mom and her ex started fighting that entire morning and afternoon. We were supposed to go to my aunt's house which was a big thing every year but by the time the ex left in a huff, it was too late to go to the party. We didn't get our Christmas presents from the rest of the family until a couple days later.

2. So then the next year they were broken up. Mom goes on a while piece about how this year we should be happy for each other and Santa was created by a corporation (yeah, but the years with Santa before was ok?) So, my brother comes home with a Christmas tree branch and call it a tree so my siblings and I sarcastically put together a Christmas branch, decorated with a few ornaments and sang around it. My dad arrived at last minute and brought presents.

3. Two years ago, my husband brings a guest for Thanksgiving without telling me. The guy spent the entire time talking about his ex-girlfriend and the book he was writing. I mean, for four hours it was this guy talking about it, not letting others talk while I was up for early that morning cooking and cleaning. I just wanted to go to knock back some egg nog and go to sleep.

 

[Katy Belle]

When I first started reading this, I couldn't think of any disasters,. Reading your stories have helped me remember a whole list!

When I was a child my mom always hosted her side of the family for Thanksgiving, about 40 people. One year she had that huge turkey in the oven. It had a lever on the front for self cleaning, to lock the oven. One of the kids moved the lever to lock, and because the oven was already hot, it wouldn't unlock! Turkey was trapped in there a few extra hours! We are everything else, still plenty of food.

We've had a few barfy Christmases. One Christmas Eve my oldest DS was about 13, he started vomiting at about 2, every 15-30 minutes! He was so sick! At 7 DH took the younger boys to church and I took the sick one to the ER. He was already dehydrated. Another Christmas everyone, I mean all 15 of us, passed around a tummy bug. It was days of misery, and we were staying at the in laws, so it made it worse!

One Christmas I bought knives for all the ladies and I went on and on and on about how sharp they are and to be careful. The day after Christmas I was using MILs new knife, and I sliced off the end of my finger! ER for ME!!!

 

[lizabu]

I always host and I remember one year I'm preparing dinner and everyone is arriving. After 30 minutes or so my sister says she needs to see this friend of hers and drop off a gift and she wants me to drive her. I tell her it can wait until after dinner. She starts arguing with me and gets mad enough to knock over my Christmas tree. I had to drop everything and drive her to the friends just to make peace. During the drive there was this icy snow that jutted out into the street. I hit it. The next morning when I had a flat tire I realize I had broken a belt in the tire and had to replace it. Everyone had to wait until we got back for me to finish making dinner so we can eat. At the time I thought she was just being a jerk but now I wonder if there was some reason she was willing to destroy everyone's christmas just to see this friend....aka...drugs.

 

[Tozzie]

Probably not considered a disaster to most, but for me it was.

I woke up extra early to get started on Thanksgiving lunch for my DH's family that was in town for Thanksgiving. I also had to cook a giant bird for my family that we would be eating at in the afternoon. I slaved in my kitchen for HOURS! All by myself making potatoes, broccoli casserole, green beans, corn pudding, rolls from scratch, pie, dressing, gravy, cranberries and turkey. I got out all of my nice dishes and made a beautiful table setting.

We sat down to eat any everyone said they weren't really hungry. Not hungry? You haven't eaten breakfast yet! They each made tiny plates, left food still on their plates and then pulled out a store bought pie my DMIL brought down with her to eat for dessert. Not one thank you or acknowledgement of anything tasting yummy. I made up some reason to leave and got in my car and drove to my moms where I lost it and cried like a baby. I had never felt so unappreciated in my life. When I got back I finished up my other Turkey which DH and I took to my grandparents where everyone said how juicy and tasty it was.

I learned my lesson. I no longer slave over a meal for my in-laws. We go out to eat on Thanksgiving.

I am going to be the dissenter here, you are annoyed they weren't hungry and they didn't tell you how yummy everything is. If someone expected me to eat that big of a meal for lunch I woudn't be able to and i wouldn't be very hungry at lunch time either, and maybe they didn't think the food was yummy . I am sorry but I don't see this as a disaster it was your expectations of what other people should think of your cooking and when they didn't think it was as good as you did it sent you over the edge. Sorry your inlaws did nothing wrong.

 

[ColoradoDisneyFreaks]

I am going to be the dissenter here, you are annoyed they weren't hungry and they didn't tell you how yummy everything is. If someone expected me to eat that big of a meal for lunch I woudn't be able to and i wouldn't be very hungry at lunch time either, and maybe they didn't think the food was yummy . I am sorry but I don't see this as a disaster it was your expectations of what other people should think of your cooking and when they didn't think it was as good as you did it sent you over the edge. Sorry your inlaws did nothing wrong.

Yes, they did, it's Thanksgiving, I bet you that the time for dinner was decided ahead of time, and even if they weren't big mid-day eaters, graciousness dictates that you at least thank the hostess for the food, sounded like that didn't happen.

 

[cjbcam]

Yes, they did, it's Thanksgiving, I bet you that the time for dinner was decided ahead of time, and even if they weren't big mid-day eaters, graciousness dictates that you at least thank the hostess for the food, sounded like that didn't happen.

Agree with you. It's not like this was just some lunch on any day. This was Thanksgiving.

 

[JanaDee]

I'll have to tell you after Thanksgiving. lol

One of my BIL's is acting like a petulant child about some stuff relating to MIL's estate and SIL (his sister) has told him to stuff it more than once, so we may have some fireworks at dinner.