How My Family Combines Thanksgiving Day and Football

For many people in the country Thanksgiving means two things: an enormous dinner and watching football. My family has enjoyed these two traditions for as long as I can remember. For years I've listened to other people complain about missing NFL action on Thanksgiving Day due to eating dinner with family. Thankfully I've never had to deal with such a situation. The Wassink family has always enjoyed both traditions without any problem. Here is how we combine Thanksgiving and football, thus enjoying the perfect Thanksgiving Day.

Every Thanksgiving we assemble at my grandmother's house. Everybody attempts to show up before kickoff of the first football game. Normally we get there around noon. This allows all of us to get situated and comfortable before the first game. It also gives up plenty of time to fill up on snacks before Thanksgiving dinner is served.

My grandmother and I have always been very close so I like to get to her place before everybody else so I can help her get everything ready. We always have light snacks out and ready to be served before everybody else arrives. The snacks are normally just some chips, pretzels, crackers, cheese, and maybe some assorted chocolates. Nothing very filling is served before dinner.

The snacks are kept on a small table that is in the same room as the television set. This is great for those who want to have a little something to eat before the big dinner, a vital part of the day as most of us won't eat breakfast on Thanksgiving for obvious reasons. Having snacks available for everybody makes it easier to decide on the exact time to serve Thanksgiving dinner.

A great thing about my family is that practically everybody is a sports fanatic and loves to watch the football games on Thanksgiving. Therefore, we schedule the big dinner to begin right around halftime of the first game. The exact time depends on how the game is going. If the game is somewhat boring or a blowout we will head to the dining room at about the two-minute warning of the first half. Otherwise, we will just wait until halftime.