12 Thanksgiving Mishaps That Were Too Crazy to Believe

Thanksgiving is meant to be a time of gratitude, good food, and family togetherness — but sometimes, things don’t go quite as planned. From kitchen disasters to unexpected family drama, even the most carefully prepared holiday can spiral into chaos. These real-life stories of Thanksgiving gone wrong prove that sometimes, the best memories come from the moments no one expected.

• My wealthy MIL has always looked down on my modest parents. This year, for the first time, she invited them to Thanksgiving and was unusually kind — hugging my mom and serving her food like a perfect host. I was genuinely touched, thinking she’d changed.
  But later that night, I scrolled through Facebook and froze. She’d posted photos of her with my mom, captioned: “My good deed for the year — feeding the less fortunate. It feels good to give back. Happy Thanksgiving!” My heart sank. My parents weren’t her guests — they were props in her performance of “generosity.”
  The final blow came when I overheard her telling my husband, “This will get me so many likes. And it’s good for your wife to see how her family should be treated.” Worse? He laughed and agreed. The warmth of the night was gone, replaced by the coldest betrayal I’d ever felt.

• My aunt and uncle showed up an hour late to dinner. My aunt then proceeded to yell at all of us because we had started eating without her. The rest of the family still makes jokes about it, and some are still not on speaking terms with her. © Jackhiy99 / Reddit

• It was after dinner, and everyone was taking a pre-dessert break to clean up and get ready (dessert is serious). My father was sitting at the head of the table, watching the game on TV at the far end, while I was dozing on the couch.
  My mother walked in from the kitchen, paused, and blankly said, “The table is on fire.” I perked up, and sure enough, someone had knocked a candle over, and the tablecloth was on fire. My father, still watching the game through the flames, hadn’t even noticed. Thankfully, we put it out quickly, but we still tease him about his obliviousness. © antisocialpsych / Reddit

• So, 25 years ago, my son was born in early November. My mom’s family is all prim and proper. So my adopted brother takes my 2-week-old son to check his diaper during dinner.
  Came back with a diaper in hand saying it didn’t look right and proceeded to smell it. So, he tasted it. Everyone is flipping out. He filled a clean diaper with pumpkin pie filling, it was hilarious. © fordfan289 / Reddit

• My grandpa and grandma got divorced, and my grandpa remarried. One Thanksgiving, my not-so-well grandpa stood and declared he regretted letting my grandma divorce him, and that it was the biggest mistake of his life. Right in front of his current wife. © bmbmjmdm / Reddit

• My uncle brought pizza to Thanksgiving because he didn’t like my grandma’s cooking. She had spent all day preparing our Thanksgiving meal, and he brought pizza! He, my aunt, and my cousins ate the pizza like it was nothing. My grandma went into the other room and cried. © marabou22 / Reddit

• My 17-year-old cousin stood up in the middle of dinner and announced that he had gotten a girl pregnant and that she was keeping the baby. Most people laughed until about 30 awkward seconds passed, and one by one, we started realizing that he was, in fact, serious when he began going into details. © joeyboii23 / Reddit

• My partner’s aunt made a huge stink that the cranberry sauce had to be this specific kind from a can. And no, it couldn’t be that same brand of cranberry sauce that had been purchased because said can had actual fruit in it. Partner’s dad had to hurry to the grocery store to buy the “right” one. Only after the meal was over did anyone notice that neither cranberry sauce had actually been put out for dinner. © falsesleep / Reddit

• My dad had an allergic reaction to a shrimp cocktail before dinner, and his face swelled up. He refused to come out of the kitchen or sit at the table with us. He was just eating his food in the kitchen and trying to act like everything was normal, yelling out things like, “Hey, good mashed potatoes this year, huh?” Meanwhile, my mom was anger-crying at the table, telling us to just eat the food she worked on all day.
  All of us kids were very scared and confused. My sister started crying because everything was so weird, and no one wanted to eat because of the tension. Eventually, my mom convinced my dad that she needed to take him to the ER. © Skr000 / Reddit

• It was supposed to be a perfect Thanksgiving. The table was set, the turkey was golden brown, and the whole family had gathered. But just as dinner was about to start, the power went out, plunging the house into darkness. Panic set in as phones flickered with flashlights and guests groaned about the “ruined” meal. Moments later, there was a knock at the door. Everyone froze — who could it be? It was the neighbor, holding a plate of warm pies. “Power’s out on our street too,” she said with a grin. “Figured we might as well celebrate together.” What started as a disaster turned into the most memorable Thanksgiving ever — a candlelit feast shared with new friends.

Here are some stories of Christmas surprises that spoiled people’s holiday.