Thanksgiving is supposed to be a nice day full of love, food, and being thankful. But somehow, every year, it ends up turning into a big argument in someone’s living room. It’s like a holiday tradition: turkey, mashed potatoes, and at least one fight before dessert.

It usually starts small. Maybe someone gets mad because someone ate all of their favorite side dishes, or someone says, “Who made the turkey this year?” in a nasty tone, meaning it’s not as good as last year. Then someone brings up old news about something that happened years ago, like when someone forgot to bring the pies in 2017, and now everyone is mad. Now everyone’s arguing, then the turkeys are getting cold, and the dog is under the table eating food.

Part of the problem is that everyone’s stressed. People have been cooking in the kitchen since 6 a.m. Someone showed up late, and the kids are playing around, knocking things over, important things! Plus, when families get together, it’s easy for old drama to come back up.

Maybe people don’t agree on politics, or someone’s just being extra loud for no reason at all, and they’re just annoying. Even though fights seem to happen every year, Thanksgiving doesn’t have to be a disaster. Families can try to pay attention to the good stuff, like the food, the jokes, or watching football together. Maybe if everyone just agreed to avoid arguing and remember that the day is about being with family and being thankful, it wouldn’t turn into a family boxing match, but at the same time, what’s Thanksgiving without at least one person messing it up?