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Three lucky Chicago Parent readers will win a family four-pack to see “Playhouse Disney Live!” at the Rosemont Theatre, 5400 N. River Road, Rosemont, Oct. 17-19. Winners will choose between the following show times: 10:30 a.m. Oct. 17, 5 p.m. Oct. 18 or 11 a.m. Oct. 19. Tickets will be held at will call. For more information, please visit playhousedisneylive.com. To win, tell us your family’s Thanksgiving traditions. Once you have posted, e-mail your answer, name and Chicago Parent ID to e-dition@chicagoparent.com. In submitting your comments, you are granting Chicago Parent permission to run them now or in the future. You must post and e-mail us for your answer to be counted. There may only be one winner per household every 30 days. We will not release your e-mail information--it is purely for contact purposes. Wednesday Journal Inc. reserves the right to change contest rules at any time. Winners will be chosen at random and may have no affiliation with Wednesday Journal Inc. or its employees.

This contest is now closed. Thanks to everyone who participated.

 

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Kate Pancero
Assistant Editor/Weekend E-dition Editor
FabMama columnist
Chicago Parent

Our family runs the Thanksgiving 5k in the morning and then has a big dinner that afternoon.

Our family's Thanksgiving tradition is to go to my aunt's house. We usually don't have a turkey but have delicious ethnic foods! We always have a good time and stuff ourselves!

our family has an activity at the table before dinner where we write what we are thankful for.   then before we sit down, we go around the table and everyone shares their thoughts.   we try to keep it simple so the kids can understand what everyone is saying.

 

Every year for the last 34 years of my life, my family would gather at my grandmother's home. Each one of the ladies would bring a dish. My grandmother always requested that I bring spaghetti so being the wonderful granddaughter that I am I would bring spaghetti. We would arrive around 3 and sit down together and have my uncle bless the wonderful meal that we were about to share. After eating we would gather in the family room and the kids would put on a show of dancing and singing. The men would somehow get the football game going on television and that's how the night would end. My grandmother passed away last year and her home was placed on the market for sale.  So this year will be extremely difficult but the tradition will be held at my home and we will honor my grandmother for the wonderful years that she gave to us and the head of our family.

 Latrice

 

Our Thanksgiving traditions include the normal stuff:  having inlaws over for turkey dinner, kids playing football in the yard if the weather cooperates.   Part of the tradition is changing the way the turkey is cooked, however.  This year, we're going with the oil-less fryer.  We'll see how that goes.  Something new has to be on the menu each year, too, but it has to fit the traditional But, in recent years, after dinner, with football on in the background, the entire Thanksgiving newspaper is spread across the floors and everyone makes their battle plan for Black Friday!

Thanksgiving is usually held at my mother's house. She is 1 of 7 children so the extended family is pretty large. My mom and her 3 sisters handle all of the basics: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn, etc.  A tradition of ours is the appetizer/dessert recipe contest we have amongst all of the cousins (there's about 18 of us) every year at Thankgiving dinner.  Homemade ballots are made listing all of the submissions and passed around to each family member. The person with the most votes wins 1st place and takes home a tacky prize (past prizes have included a Chia-pet and The Clapper) but more importantly they get bragging rights for a full 12 months!! And in a family with 18 cousins with ages ranging from 18-38 the competition can get fierce! The best part about this contest is there are lots of yummy appetizers and desserts to go around! This also relieves some of the pressure for my mom and aunts so they can focus on cooking the main part of the meal.

My family's Thanksgiving tradition is one we look forward to year after year.   Dinner is always at my mother's house who lives right downstairs from us.  My younger sister lives in the basement and my other sister lives next door.  In the morning we get up and get ready for church.  We always buy bread and have it blessed after mass for our evening dinner.  As soon as we return from church my sisters and I help my mother prepare for our wonderful Thanksgiving meal.  It's funny because all four ovens from the four households are used in order to speed up the process.  My sisters and I have to set up the dinner table twice because the family has grown so much.  The extent of my family is my mother and father, 3 daughters, 7 grandchildren, 2 spouses, extended family and my grandmother who will be turning 90 in December.  But before anyone starts to eat we gather and together we say a prayer.  Of course, the food always turns out to be amazing!  After dinner, everyone helps with clean-up and then we sit and tell stories, take pictures (especially with my grandmother).  I love those pictures most because in my case there are 4 generations - my grandmother, my mother, myself and my 2 daughters.  When the food settles a bit we pull out all the desserts - flan being my favorite and coffee and enjoy the rest of evening.

Every Thanksgiving Day, my family gets together for lunch at my in-laws' and  for dinner,  we drive to my sister's and her family, we spend the whole evening there just relaxing, watch a movie or two, the kids they just play together, stay up late and we all have so much fun (",)

Every Thanksgiving my family watches the Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV! It's our favorite! Then we stop by my husband's parents house to visit. Then we go over to my Grandparents to eat! My grandma is a dessert chef, so the food is always delicious!! And we all talk about what we are thankful for!

The past few years, we have spent Thanksgiving at home.  We all pitch in and cook (nothing beats Thanksgiving leftovers!).  Afterwards, the younger kids play together and the older kids relax and talk.  Our oldest is 27, our youngest is 2.  This year, we have a brand new granddaughter so Thanksgiving will be even more special. 

Our family looks forward to Thanksgiving each year because it's an opportunity to have everyone all together in one place.  We usually have it at our house and everyone brings a dish.  My husband is in charge of the turkey and it is a major production each year.  Of course, it always has to be the largest turkey at the store.  He has to put on his "special" thanksgiving apron and he gets up really early that morning to prepare.  The turkey is always is a big hit!

We always have 2 thanksgiving dinners, one with my father-in-law and then one at my mom's house. This year will be bitter sweet for us, my father-in-law passed away earlier this year so we want to start a new tradition. We're in a process of buying a house and if everything turns out well, we will have everyone over our house and celebrate as one big happy family!

Oh, this is an excellent question for our family!  We are deep in Thanksgiving traditions.  My mother's family owned a Turkey Farm in Ft. Wayne, IN so Thanksgiving has always been our family's most special holiday.  Our Thanksgiving celebration always begins around the large, heavy, wooden table that belonged to my mother's parents until they passed away.  It was tradition that we went to my grandparent's home for Thanksgiving each year.  Since that marked the end of their "turkey season" (and heavy work load!), it was truly a celebration!!  After they passed away, it was decided that whomever inherited the table must also host Thanksgiving dinner.  That duty fell upon my mom.  For many years she had everyone including her three brothers and their families, my siblings and their families, and various "tag-alongs" or in-laws' of family members.  Two years ago when my mom became ill with cancer, my sister agreed to host Thanksgiving.  They moved the table Thanksgiving Day to my sister's house for the day and she had everyone there.  We did that for two years.  My mother passed away in March and the big discussion has been "the" table and who would host Thankgiving.  My cousin just married this Spring and they inherited the table.  Guess we know who's hosting our celebration this year!!! 

Each year we celebrate Thanksgiving with our closest relatives, and whom ever happens to be hosting dinner at their home will provide the delicious turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatotes.  Everyone else supplies the sweet potato casserole, spiced pumpkin pie, warm apple pie, green been casserole, and my Grandmother's cranberry salad that is alway such a hit.  We too will go around the table and share what we are grateful for, and will start dinner off with a prayer.  Once the meal is over, the men race to the nearest tv and the best seat in the house, the kids run and play, and the ladies tend to get stuck with clean up.  Once desert is served and we have filled our bellies to the brim all over again, we will wrap up the night with trivia games.