Turkey in Trouble? Tech to the Rescue!

Hosting a party is always stressful, yet in many families, someone always ends up doing it so the whole family can get together at Thanksgiving. For some, it’s an enjoyable celebration of giving thanks. Others wish that one relative would stop asking personal questions that are none of their business or for that other relative to stop being so loud about their controversial opinions, which always start a fight. Then, there are the younger kids who get restless long before the pie comes out. Whoever is hosting generally gets caught in the middle of it all. If you’re hosting and you have home security and automation features, you can use these to make at least some elements of the gathering run more smoothly.

Say the guests will be arriving any minute, and you’re running late. Several dishes have taken longer to cook than the estimated cook times. The gravy still won’t thicken, and your kids still haven’t set the table despite their promising to help earlier in the day and your numerous reminders. Sound familiar? If you’ve ever been in a similar position, then you know what happens next according to Murphy’s law.

The doorbell rings.

Given how today has been going, if you step away from your gravy now, it will probably burn or otherwise get ruined. But, for once, something is in your favor. Still stirring the gravy with one hand, you pull out your phone and open the app for your Ring video doorbell with the other. Utilizing the two-way audio, you invite the first guests to come inside. You also unlock your smart lock from your phone so they can get inside. With your gravy safe and your guests out of the cold, you make conversation as you finish up and invite other guests in as they arrive until it’s time to gather around the table for the Thanksgiving feast.

When groups of people gather in one room, it tends to make a room warm. This dinner is no exception. The conversation is currently enjoyable, so you’re glad you don’t have to leave the table to change the thermostat. Instead, you can adjust your Nest learning thermostat from the app.

As the evening goes on, the conversation grows less interesting, and those at the kid table—even some of the adult children who haven’t graduated to the big table yet—look painfully bored. Knowing kids, it’s only a matter of time before one of them invents a rowdy way of getting attention. At this point, you invite them into a different area of the house for some Thanksgiving games. They’ll be entertained, and you check on them occasionally with your indoor security cameras to make sure they don’t get into too much trouble. When it’s time for pie, you again open your Ring app and use the indoor camera’s two-way talk to invite them to join, which they eagerly do.

There’s no such thing as a perfect Thanksgiving, but by the time everyone goes home, you declare this one a success, and you’re glad you had your technology to make things easier.