Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays of the year. We don’t have a very big family, so you would think that Thanksgiving Day would be pretty laid-back. Despite all efforts it usually devolves into chaos though. There are a couple of reasons that it happens every year: those reasons are my children. We all get excited at the idea of everyone being around together and between Santa arriving in Herald Square, Aunts and Uncles arriving from far away, and the smell of pie baking, the energy usually gets frantic.

Last year I learned a very big lesson about time management: if I want to have time, the mischief needs managed. I made a rookie mistake and thought that crafts would be the way to go but it turns out that it was a mess I regretted. This year I opted for books! I thought I would share with you my plan for a stress free distraction:

Pete the Cat is a favorite in our house! Our oldest loves reading them to her younger brothers and the baby is going to love the 15 different flaps that can be lifted up in this new groovy Thanksgiving book.

The Berenstain Bears are classics and our parents love reading them to our children. We chose this book because no matter how much time has passed, The Berenstain Bears always pass along great stories and guidance from “Big Bears” to “Little Bears”.

The Peanuts gang as emerged as a front runner for our kid’s attention this year. They have fallen for the whole gang. My middle son especially seems to connect with Charlie Brown.

One of the only “craft” things that actually worked last year was coloring. This book is great because not only does it include pages to color but cards to make. What is so nice about that is that our kids love giving them out to our family members and this is guaranteed to keep them entertained. Also what better way to “give thanks” then to give out notes to people we are thankful for?

Finally, I mentioned above that we sometimes like to laugh inappropriately. This is going to be a new one for us this year, and I’m pretty sure the word “poop” will end up in it at some point. Mad Libs is a classic if not just for the laughs it provides, but the interactive way it tells a story. I am hoping that the kids will enjoy it as much as my husband and I loved Mad Libs when we were young.

Hopefully these suggestions will help you out this year too. All of them are available on Amazon, and most are available to be shipped and arrive by the holiday. I wish you all a happy Thanksgiving!