Holiday stress!
Hopefully you have already started your shopping, organizing, cleaning and whatever.
It’s not too late to be ready with everything you need.
Start tonight with getting more sleep. Ask others who will be participating in the festivities to lend a hand. You do not have to be Atlas holding up the world here.
If you haven’t already gotten the bird and it will need to be defrosted, plan on a different meat. Or if someone who is coming has bought a bird have them start defrosting that one for you. They can bring it over tomorrow and exchange your frozen one for the thawed one.
Plan on not having to be up in the middle of the night to start fixing whatever will be served. Starting the day exhausted doesn’t add to the fun. I feel that being up before 7AM should be illegal – particularly to cook.
Maybe next year consider ordering the meat cooked and delivered. Just make a budget on what you want to spend and stick to it.
If you have a ‘split family’ situation plan on people coming and going. Have it more buffet style open house without the formal sit-down dinner. Some come around early, some later.
If you have someone with special diet needs, ask them to bring their favorite dish. Bring copies of the recipes so everyone can learn how to eat differently and address other’s diet needs. Again, you don’t have to do it all.
For those traveling to grandmother’s house, leave plenty of time. Plan on delays and problems. The most important thing it to get there alive, unharmed, un-dented. Just get there. Remember to celebrate the gathering and each other’s presence. It’s not a ‘beat the clock’ game.
If you’re a bit behind the eight ball then you need to prioritize what you really need. Make a list. Use this Thanksgiving time to plan ahead for the rest of the holidays. There’s more to come you know. Don’t use up all your energy now. You may need to trim some of the usual activities in to make room for the holiday festivities.
Be nice to yourself. You can’t do it all and you shouldn’t expect to. Really, it’s OK!
And remember to laugh. One Thanksgiving the blender with the gravy in it got knocked over onto the floor. There were a lot of pale faces at the loss of gravy but a lot of laughter as we slid around on the kitchen floor trying to clean it up. That grease is hard to remove.
Most of all enjoy the holidays, whichever ones you honor and celebrate.