One of my first memories in spending Thanksgiving at my grandparents house with my family is always of my grandfather who would greet everyone, chat about sports, John Wayne westerns and what my grandmother was cooking for dinner in the kitchen. We always looked forward to that meal and we would all sit around groups of tables talking away on a variety of topics.

When desert had come and gone, we all took up spots on furniture throughout the room. I always remember my grandfather though sitting down in his favorite reclining chair and looking full and stress free after a great Thanksgiving meal. All of us kids always tried hopping into that stressless recliner wondering why our grandfather loved that chair so much. He’d come back and find us in it and we were pretty sure that was our cue to hop out and run.

Now that I’m older I understand what it is to have that one and only stressless recliner in your home that provides a great place to rest and relax. While I don’t have to move children out of my recliner I do find that my wife and I take turns in it and one of us is always relegated to the sofa. So why do recliners offer such a stress free and relaxing place to kick back and enjoy being home?

Recliners have come quite far in the last 50 years. Much of that has to do with design changes to make them both easier to operate as well as providing better function and form in modern recliner designs. Where as mechanisms for recliners were big, bulky and required a lot of room for operation 50 years ago. Today’s recliners are more streamlined with mechanisms that are unobtrusive and easier to operate on a daily basis. They also tend to take up less room now as well.

What seems to make a great recliner is one that provides proper neck and back support. You’d be surprised how many recliners just don’t seem to offer the right support and those are usually the pieces of furniture that look great in a room but nobody ever sits in them. You want your furniture to restful and relaxing especially if a lot of people are coming over and seating will be at a minimum. You want the best seats you can have not only for yourself but for those that come over too. It’s a great feeling to be proud of your quality furniture.

You’re sure to be at someone’s home this Thanksgiving season and I would expect that at some point, you’ll likely be sitting down. My advice is to look for a stressless recliner to curl up into after a great meal and if you feel like you may need to get up for a bit, always have a designated child ready to hold down your chair until you get back. Don’t worry, when they see you coming they’ll know to hop out.