I made the drive a few times, you'll be fine. Leave at 3am. Not much rush hour traffic the day after thanksgiving.
You can thumb back on this thread and see the experiences people had driving the day after thanksgiving, I don't recall any terrible problems.
I wouldn't recommend driving through the night unless you have done it before. It's not as easy as it seems, especially with kids in the car. We have done it a number of times but I'm nuts. Lol But I also drive for a living.
I'm in sales and drive about 40k a year for work. I'm also one of those people who can drive forever and is real comfortable in a car.
Just sit back, take a few deep breaths and by the time you get an hour down the road, you'll say, this isn't that bad.
Nothing more that stresses me out is an airport.
You also have to remember once you get out of the north east, the roads get smoother, flatter, wider and straighter.
I look over at some people driving and there holding onto the wheel like it's going to fall off the steering column, relax, keep up with traffic, don't tailgate and stay alert.
You'll have a blast.