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Thanksgiving is a time for family, gratitude and sky-high expectations for execution of the celebration. To help you avoid the downsides Turkey Day, we’ve identified five common pitfalls for the holiday and how to avoid them. 1. The bit-too-lit Thanksgiving Exercise caution in the kitchen to avoid getting burned — literally — by your Thanksgiving preparations. Distractions ranging from loved one’s arrivals to meal prep pre-gaming contribute to Thanksgiving being the number one day for cooking fires in the United States. Thanksgiving sees more than three times the average daily number of house fires, according to the National Fire Protection Association. The organization reports that cooking is the leading cause of house fires year round, accounting for 48 percent of all house fires nationwide, 45 percent of fire-related injuries and 21 percent of home fire deaths. How to avoid this: One of NFPA’s first recommendations is to watch your wardrobe. Loose and billowy clothes can more easily catch fire when you’ve got multiple burners going and the oven on. Clothing ignitions account for 15 percent of all cooking-related fatalities, NFPA reports. The way to get out of this holiday unburned (by your appliances — we can’t speak for your relatives) is to find ways to keep your focus on the kitchen when things start getting hectic. Set timers that can travel with you if you’re moving from room to room. Your phone is an option; if you’ve got her, tell Alexa to set one. If you’re cooking anything on the stovetop, stay near it. The NFPA recommends steering clear of turkey fryers; if you’re partial to a deep-fried bird, pick one up from a store or restaurant. 2. Turkey dreams turn to nightmares We learned this year that the centerpiece of our Thanksgiving meals might come with an unwelcome guest: salmonella. A multi-drug-resistant strain has sickened at least 164 people and has spread to 35 states since the outbreak began in November 2017. Even if you take extra precautions against the bacteria, you still might run into other perennial problems such as forgetting to defrost the turkey in time or not being sure whether it is cooked through. How to avoid this: Avoid salmonella infection by being vigilant. Wash everything that comes in contact with raw turkey. On the flip side, don’t rinse your turkey. It doesn’t need it, and you’re more likely to spread droplets of water that have come in contact with raw meat. The Oregon Health Authority has tried a humorous approach to raise awareness about salmonella and how to avoid it, launching a Twitter account impersonating the bacteria. Yes, this is real. For any and all other turkey-related woes and insecurities, the Butterball Turkey Talk-line has you covered. Besides being asked whether the turkey is done, Butterball hotliners have answered questions about cooking stuffing (hint: don’t do it in the turkey!) and whether you can defrost a turkey inside a dryer. 3. Turkey to the left, politics to the right Family holiday gatherings can often bring a side of conflict along with the cranberry sauce. You might feel that Thanksgiving glosses over killings of indigenous people, but your uncle will defend the holiday with his last breath. Pew Research Center in 2017 found that Americans are more politically polarized than at any point in the last three decades. How to avoid this: Dr. Karen Ruskin, a Boston-based psychotherapist, said that old behaviors also arise as a result of past hurts or resentments. She recommends exercising empathy — remembering that another person has their own lens through which they form their opinion — to avoid trying to “sell your product” and change their opinion. Another way to avoid heated conversations is to agree not to discuss certain topics — and hold each other accountable throughout the day. If sensitive conversations arise, keep track of time, and set limits when a conversation has gone on for long enough. Remove yourself by helping out whoever is heading up meal preparations (and giving it their full attention, if they took the advice about the first pitfall). 4. Stopped-up pipes As tempting as the ease of the garbage disposal can be, don’t let the lure of convenience tempt you to pour something down there that will cost you in the long run. Roto-Rooter reports that the Friday after Thanksgiving (the company calls it “Brown Friday”) is its busiest day of the year. Customer calls come in at a rate 50 percent above the average Friday and see a 21 percent uptick in business over any other four-day weekend period during the year, according to a release from Roto-Rooter. How to avoid this: The two main sites for trouble in the home over the holiday are toilets and sinks. To avoid clogging up your garbage disposal, Roto-Rooter recommends feeding food scraps only while the disposal is running. And try not to throw large amounts of tough food down it. “Disposals can handle scraps in small quantities, but most food waste belongs in the trash can,” the release said. That includes cooking oils or other fats, which solidify as they cool. To keep things running smoothly in the restrooms, leave a plunger in the room so guests don’t need to ask for it. Do what you can to keep all unapproved items from being flushed. 5. Lack of gratitude In 2015, publications including Forbes and Psychology Today reported that a Harris online poll found that three of every five Americans preferred to do something besides reflect on what they’re thankful for on Thanksgiving. One in five copped to being more grateful for a material possession than for a person in their lives. It could be linked to the 71 percent of people who said that the holidays cause them stress. How to avoid this: Gratitude is a deliberate exercise, writes Amy Morin, psychotherapist and New York Times best-selling author. Setting aside time to reflect on what you can be grateful for will help you not only during the holiday season, but may even establish patterns of gratitude that will carry into the new year and beyond. That might include writing gratitude cards to people in your life to carefully think through what they’ve done for you, or setting aside as little as one full minute to think through your privileges, resources and relationships. Doing this during a busy holiday season may require deliberate boundary-setting with your time — if you are committed to so many visits, meals and activities, you might miss your chance. But the payoff is worth it: Gratitude is linked not only to healthier relationships, but also helps with depression and heart health, according to research from the University of Miami and UC San Diego’s School of Medicine. Reach Mail Tribune reporter Kaylee Tornay at 541-776-4497 or [email protected].