My dad, Dario, loves to cook. He and my mom usually come to visit for a few months every year. While they're around, my dad completely takes over the kitchen. He's a fantastic cook, but very particular about how he makes everything. A day after he and my mom arrived, utensils are rearranged, and I'm not allowed within 10 feet of the stove! Ron and I are left to wait things out (but we do get to enjoy all the great food)! After Mom and Dad head out to visit my other siblings, we reclaim the kitchen once again, but it's always after they're gone and not a minute before.
I thought it'd be fun to have some of the Care.com employees share their own stories of holiday mayhem. Enjoy!
Ron's Favorite Story
"A couple years ago, I thought it'd be a good idea to add roasted duck to our traditional Thanksgiving menu. But having never cooked a duck, I had no idea how long it takes. A turkey takes hours in the oven, but duck takes hours longer! As the smells of a beautiful turkey and all the trimmings wafted through the house, our family and relatives sat around getting hungrier by the minute. They waited. And waited. And waited. An hour later (which seemed endless at the time), the duck was done to perfection, but the rest of the meal was cold! Whoops."
Isabelle – Marketing
"We always open one present from our stockings, every Christmas Eve, as a teaser to the Big Day. It's never a large gift—mostly just computer gadgets, small gift certificates or catnip versions of George W. and Hillary for the cats. One year, my mom was too busy entertaining and taking care of my grandparents to hang the stockings and there was no Christmas Eve teaser. Even though I'm supposed to be too grown-up to care about those things, I was heartbroken and made her promise to never, ever forget our stocking tradition again!"
Justin – Corporate
“All I wanted for Christmas when I was 8 was a large bean bag chair that I'd seen in a department store. I begged and pleaded for weeks for this silly chair, and on Christmas morning there it was—sitting in my room with a bow. I literally sat in it all day and actually spent the night on it. I woke up the next morning because something was itching my back—the tag from the chair had been rubbing against me, so I tore it off. Then I read it, stopping in horror at the part where it said only the ‘consumer’ could rip off the tag. And it was punishable by law! I burst into tears, as the word 'consumer' wasn't part of my 8 year old vocabulary. I ran to my parents, who still joke every single Christmas that I'll be taken away by the bean bag police."
Mike – Editorial
"After years of spending holidays at my grandmother's house, I found she's apparently become comfortable enough around us grandkids to just relax and let it all hang out. Literally. I walked out of the bathroom, and Grandma was in the midst of changing her holiday outfit—right in the center of the living room. I quickly ducked back inside and waited for her to slip on a pair of slacks. My mom told me that she used to do stuff like that all the time when she was growing up, but I'd never seen it before. And I don't need to see it again."
Mark – PR
"Before the cell phone era, my brother was in college and traveling with the Syracuse basketball team doing radio work. The team returned from a West Coast road trip on Thanksgiving morning, and my family decided to make the 5-hour drive from Boston to Syracuse so we could enjoy dinner as a family. Long story short, my brother’s flight was rerouted—through Boston. He wound up landing 15 miles from our house just as we arrived in Syracuse. He did catch a later connecting flight, but by the time he finally arrived, the only place open for dinner was TGIFridays. I could tell the waitress felt sorry for me when I ordered a Turkey Reuben. But hey, you gotta have turkey on Thanksgiving!"
These stories are terrific, aren't they? But we really want to hear from you! Post your own zany, family-related holiday stories in the comments.
