The "Kid's Table" on Thanksgiving

[minniecarousel]

So we're at 29 - 33 people for the day. I'm pretty sure we're at least 31. 29 is my "breaking point" at the tables I can set up in the living room/dining room. The triplets are almost 6 - they take about 5 minutes to eat & I'm thinking of putting them at a card table in the entryway adjacent to the living room. I have a cute turkey centerpiece with cookies as feathers for their table. We haven't done a "kid's table" since I was a kid - how do others handle this?

 

[GEM]

I just wanted to say that sounds like a fine solution. Also, I am 30 years old and married with a baby - and I'm still sitting at the kids table. Now my husband (and baby this year) join me there as well. The policy in our family is you don't get to move up to the grown-up table till somebody dies.

 

[Keli]

We've had a kid's table ever since my siblings started to have children (my dd Ashli is the oldest grandchild and there's a fair gap between her and the rest of my siblings' kids so we didn't need a kid's table until Ashli was about 10 years old). Now it's a tradition and the cousins all vie for who will get to sit next to who during dinner.

 

[Bichon Barb]

We feed the kids just before the adults.

 

[browneyes]

I guess you could say I eat at the kid table. We let the "adults" go in the living room and eat tv in front of the tv while they're watching their football games. My mom, SIL, one of my brothers and I sit with the kids and tell them funny stories or jokes and ask them about stuff on their plates to get them to eat. My ds almost always steals stuff off of my plate though. We eat at my mom's and there's room for 8 of us at the table, but there's usually 11+ that show up. Works for us.

 

[HappyMommy2]

My grandparents always have such a full house (usually 35-40 people, and it's not a big house!) that it's impossible to have a seat for everyone. So a few years ago Grandma bought some cute cheap shower curtains, and those are spread out on the floor wherever there's room for the little kids to eat on. Works great! I wish I still got to sit on the shower curtain; I always liked having a picnic for Thanksgiving or Christmas!

 

[Lewski709]

Kids tables SUCK! When do you move to the adult table? When someone dies? That SUCKS! Oh boy.....did I say that out loud?

Seriously, why does there have to be assigned seating? Everyone, grab a seat and mix it up! Arrange the tables so they butt up to one another OR spread them all out and everyone can eat and then mingle. Does it really have to be so formal with so many people? JMHO.

 

[aprilgail2]

I was stuck at the kids table when I was 30 years old!! The only way I got off of that table was when I had a baby and someone died the same year!! My brother who is older than me still sits at the kids table (no wife no kids!)! I HATE the kids table!!

 

[tkd lisa]

We had a kids table growing up. It really was just for the kids though. We actually had to share a knife, cause there wasn't enough to go around. As best I remember, there were probably 15 or so adults. I think we usually had about 10 kids around the kids tables with 2 knives!

When we do the family thing (usually Christmas) we set up a kids table in the family room, with the late teens/early 20s eating off TV tables. They'd rather do that so that they can catch up without listening to all the grown up stuff. Babies sit at the main table til they can feed themselves. As soon as dinner's finished, we clear off the main table and whoever wants to plays games, so we get to mingle then.

Oh, and the main table is in the kitchen, so it's definitely not stuffy/formal. We usually set up a "serving line" around the counters, then sit down to eat off paper plates. Makes clean up a breeze, so we can get to the fun stuff.

 

[FreshTressa]

Originally posted by GEM
I just wanted to say that sounds like a fine solution. Also, I am 30 years old and married with a baby - and I'm still sitting at the kids table. Now my husband (and baby this year) join me there as well. The policy in our family is you don't get to move up to the grown-up table till somebody dies.

That is soooo funny! I had to share with my DH. Sounds like my family. 'cept this year I'm hosting, so I am going to stake my claim at the grown up table!

 

[minniecarousel]

Thanks for the opinions! I thought they'd range from - "yuk - kid's table" to "no problem"! I kinda like the feed the kids first idea. We are having buffet-style for the first time this year. I'll set the table with the silverware and glassware, but everyone will load up their plate in the kitchen. It's the ONLY time of year that works for being somewhat "formal". Christmas is a "graze-all-day-no-set-meal" kinda thing.

 

[Robinrs]

Boy does this bring back memories....

I'm the youngest in my family by MANY years so I was STILL sitting at that DARNED card table with the cover with my neices and nephews when I was in my twenties...

Nowadays we do the buffet style also. It's a bit more PC.

 

[Bichon Barb]

With regard t the kids eating first, they just don't care if they sit with us. They'll just take off and play while we eat. We also do buffet style, and everyone brings dishes, so there are many many choices of food. I think it's a pain to serve yourself and serve the kids at the same time.

Mom or dads just take a kid, bring 'em up in line, find out what they want, and send them off. And of course, by that time, they have eaten so many crackers and cheese and are so wound up from beating on their cousins, that they take three bites and go back at running around. You know, I used fight them to eat more every holiday, and then I gave up. They don't care about the food. They just care about the fun of the holiday.

Here is a picture of the kids and their cousins: