It’s Odd Assigning Seats At Your Wyoming Thanksgiving, Right?

Big families that get together around the holidays can cause BIG problems. The bigger the family, the more personalities, the better the chance of a big blow up. To avoid those issues, is assigning seats a good idea? Maybe.

If Uncle Jim and Cousin Ralph can't seem to get along, you don't want them accidentally sitting next to each other. If you were to intentionally seat them at different tables, with many people between them, it probably won't get heated.

Personally, I like the idea of sitting where you want. If you don't get to see a certain family member that often and want to chat with them, it's nice to be able to sit with them. On the other side of that coin though, if multiple people in your family don't get to see YOU that often, they may all want to sit by you. In that case a seating chart helps you not have to pick favorites.

I can see the positives and the negatives of the holiday seating chart.

If you feel you need to assign seats or have a seating chart, All Seated.com has a few ideas to help you out.

• Go the route of assigning tables, not seats. Corralling families is a lot like herding cats, not that easy. Giving them a table as their home base of operation, allows them to know where to go and not have to search out a place.
• Seat family members that work best together at the same table. Plan on blending those family members that have similar interests at the same table.
• Offer a lounging situation instead of a formal dinner. The free-for-all style seating is perfect for a more laid back family atmosphere. Grouping comfortable chairs, couches, and other seating options with small tables and trays, will help ease tensions.
• Give the kids their own section. You know about the 'kids table' seating. Usually the youngest adult sibling or the single sibling gets the "luxury" of sitting with the kids. Sometimes that person is the luckiest of the party. Make this section the fun section, instead of formal dining options, give them fun options. White paper tablecloth that doubles as a coloring book. Place the table on a hard-surfaced floor, to keep spill clean-up easy. Serve food that kids want to eat and not just 'adult food'.

Planning ahead isn't always a bad thing. In the long run, having a seating chart, probably would make life much easier for you.