Don’t be the frazzled, crazed Thanksgiving host

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turkey veggie plateAre you are one of the generous souls hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year? If so, then this post is for you.

If you have stepped foot in the grocery store at any time this past week I am sure you are well aware of the holiday rush that has begun. I went to to Trader Joe’s the other day, it was a scary experience. Frantic, frazzled shoppers going every which way.

Have you made a plan for next week?

There are SO many things to do on top of your usual busy schedule: things like cleaning your house, buying items at the grocery store you never would purchase until this unusual US cultural phenomena takes control over you and steers you directly to the marshmallows because you just have to make what I like to call White Trash Sweet Potatoes. Once you survive the grocery shopping, you then have to unpack and store all those strange items until you find time to actually prepare them. Instead of grumbling about all the holiday craze you also try to stay aware that this holiday is about gratitude and you really should be thankful you can actually afford the damn marshmallows. Many people are struggling just to pay basic bills during this time.

If any of this sounds familiar you are probably at the tipping point of entering crazy land. I have a few suggestions to help make this week go a little smoother.

First, make time this weekend to plan. Trust me, a few minutes of planning will save you a whole LOT of stress. If you are not sure where to start I suggest taking 10 minutes to read my tiny eBooklet on The ABCs and 123s of Getting Stuff Done. This booklet will help you get down the basics of managing your to do list. It is a really fast read. [Shameless self promotion ends here.]

If you are looking for some help to relieve your stress and help you plan JUST for this week check out Leanne Ely’s Thanksgiving To Do List and Shopping List. I used this a few years ago when I was hosting 20+ people. The list was very helpful. I am thankful to FlyLady for introducing me to Leanne Ely’s Website years ago. You can download a copy of Leanne Ely’s list here in PDF format: www.savingdinner.com/mm-sample/Free_Thanksgiving.pdf

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 

*Photo found on Pinterest.

2 thoughts on “Don’t be the frazzled, crazed Thanksgiving host

  1. jennydecki

    One of the best ways I’ve found to keep it together and organized for Thanksgiving is to be a traditionalist. I make great-grandmother’s stuffing every year. I make mashed potatoes with bacon and cheese every year. I make asparagus and corn…you guessed it…every year. Any fanciness comes from guests. This year my cousin is bringing two pies and two bottles of vanilla vodka. WooHoo! Keeping it traditional (whatever YOUR traditions are) means you get the same stuff every year, which means shopping gets easier every year because you eventually have your list memorized. This year I’m doing the Pioneer Woman mashed potatoes so I had to add cream cheese to a Thanksgiving list that usually doesn’t have it. No biggie. Thanks for a great article!

    1. Sally_K Post author

      Jennifer – I love that you are a traditionalist. Tradition is one thing we never grasped very well. Having a blended family made tradition a bit complicated as we switched holidaze with their dad every other year. One year we’d have kids with us for Thanksgiving, next year for Christmas. Some years we would visit my family, one year we visited C’s family in Venezuela. Other years we stayed home and invited the neighbors over. It was always something different. On years the kids were with their dad we did orphan Thanksgivings and invited all our friends who didn’t have family in the area. Sometimes it makes me sad that we didn’t establish better family traditions with the kids when they were small. One non-holiday tradition we did create was Saturday morning pancakes and the kids (now adultlets) still enjoy that. In fact, this Friday after Thanksgiving they and their friends are showing up at our house for special Friday morning pancakes, like the old times. 🙂

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