How to Host Thanksgiving With Less Stress

It’s your year to host Thanksgiving! Whether you host every year, or you take turns with your siblings, or this is the first time you’ve ever invited your nearest and dearest over for turkey and all the trimmings, it can be overwhelming. Try to take some of the stress out of preparing for the holiday; the day should be more about enjoying your family and friends, and less about worrying over all of the details. Here are some tips that will help you host Thanksgiving with less stress:

• Delegate, delegate, delegate!

  Just because you’re having everyone over to your house, it doesn’t mean that you should be the one to do everything. Feel free to ask your friends and family members to contribute a dish to the meal. It might work out well if you roast the turkey, provide the drinks and perhaps make one or two appetizers, and assign others to handle the rest! Your guests will likely be happy to help, and it takes a lot of the pressure off of you. After the meal, don’t be shy about asking others to pitch in. Many hands make light work, so go ahead and get those hands moving to help clear the table, load the dishwasher, sweep the floor and do the various other tasks that need to be done.

• Take a few shortcuts

  Think about what you normally do for Thanksgiving, and see where you can cut corners without feeling guilty. Could you serve pumpkin pie from the freezer section of your grocery store? Canned cranberry sauce can stand in for the homemade kind, and you can definitely use paper plates instead of china for dessert. Instead of ironing a linen tablecloth, you could pick up a vinyl one from the discount store for under $5. You won’t want to abandon favorite family recipes, most likely, but if no one is likely to notice whether or not an item is homemade, go ahead and use the boxed or canned kind.

• Relax your standards when it comes to cleaning

  If you’re inviting others, they’re going to be walking through your house, a child might spill a drink, and you will end up with a lot of dirty dishes. While you will undoubtedly want to make sure that everything looks nice and tidy, don’t go crazy scrubbing the floor or cleaning out cabinets. Run the vacuum cleaner and use a damp mop if there are spots, then forget about it; you’re going to have to do it all over again when everybody goes home anyway, so why do the deep-down dirty work twice?

• Prepare for overnight guests well in advance of the big day

  If you have out-of-town guests staying over for a couple of nights, get all of the preparations done as early as possible. Running out for extra pillows or getting the sheets washed and dried the day before the holiday will just raise your stress level. Once the room is ready, keep the door shut to keep kids and pets out, and it will stay welcoming until your visitors arrive.

• Relax! During your meal, sit down and relax

  Enjoy your guests and mingle. Allow them to help themselves to drinks and to take their own plates to the sink; you don’t have to wait on everyone hand and foot. Not allowing yourself to enjoy the holiday is a sure-fire way to start dreading next year’s Thanksgiving before this year’s is even finished!

Hosting Thanksgiving can raise your blood pressure a bit at times, but try to keep things in perspective. It’s a day to think about all that you’re thankful for, and you can’t do that if you’re completely stressed out. Take time for relaxed conversation and let others help you. You can do it!