Thanksgiving is only a week away! And whether you’re hosting or attending, turkey day festivities can be stressful! Well fear not, I’ve got you covered! Below is my Thanksgiving Day Survival Guide to help make your gathering as fun and low-stress as possible! Among the most important of all the helpful tips I talk about, is just remember its all about being thankful. Don’t get so caught up in the logistics that you overlook all the blessings around you! So grab a steaming cup of cider and get cozy. I’m gonna tell you how to not only survive, but to thrive for Thanksgiving!
PLAN
If you haven’t started planning, now is the time to get on it! Here is a quick checklist to successfully host or attend Thanksgiving Dinner!
(1) Locate the Gravy Dish – year after year there is always a scramble to find the dang gravy dish! Do yourself a favor and go find it now!
(2) Designate an area in your home to house all the tableware, serving dishes, and décor needed. And start collecting them now. (Don’t forget to test your thermometer). If you are not hosting, reach out to your host to see if they are in need of any items that you might be able to lend them.
(3) Confirm your guest list and determine where everyone is going to sit. Make sure you have enough seating for all!
(4) If you have kids attending, decide if you are going to create a kids table. Make sure to include some fun items for the little kiddos!
(5) Plan for leftovers! Clean out your fridge and have plenty of plastic baggies and Tupperware containers on standby. If you don’t want to give out all of your good Tupperware send a message to your guests asking them to bring their own if they want to take home leftovers.
(6) Practice staging your table to make sure all of the items fit well. Take a photo of your set table so that you have it as a quick reference when you are setting it for real.
(7) If you have guests sleeping over, make sure the linens are ready, bathrooms are stocked, and that you have plenty of extra pillows and blankets in case you have an extra guest or two stay over. Those Thanksgiving turkey commas are no joke! If you are staying the night out on Thanksgiving, offer to bring extra blankets and pillows… maybe an air mattress.
(8) Add a calendar reminder to your phone and in your planner reminding you to defrost the turkey and any other items needed!
STAY POSITIVE
Plenty of things will go wrong over the next few days but keep in mind most of your family and friends won’t even know about it! Try not to harp on the things that don’t go right. Staying positive will help you remain calm, keep good energy and be in a good mood, which will most likely cascade to your family’s mood too. Focus on being gracious with yourself and others as the stresses of traffic, travel and hosting attempt to bring us down. It may be helpful to put inspirational quotes or scriptures next your bed, bathroom sink and kitchen to help you stay in the thankful mind frame!
PRIORITIZE
Make a list of the all the things that you would like to do. Try to narrow down your list to all the things that MUST get done and assign a time frame of when they need to be done next to each task. Next, you could arrange your list in order of when it needs to be accomplished. Then delegate! Who is on your A-team? Maybe your Mom, Son, Sister-In-Law or Hubby. Who can help you divide and conquer so you can hopefully accomplish your Must-Do’s as stress free as possible!
FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO WEAR
Don’t wait until the last minute for this one… it will only bring you unnecessary stress. Of course, you want to look nice but remember you want to be comfortable too. Typically, thanksgiving is an all-day affair with A LOT of eating! Wear something that is a bit forgiving or prepare an extra outfit for after-meal hanging out. Here are some of my favorite items to wear for Thanksgiving.
GET SOME FRESH AIR
Make sure you are spending time outdoors! It is good for the soul! Get up early and go for a stroll, enjoy a nice cup of coffee outside, toss the ball around turning halftime, play a family game before dinner.
PUT YOUR PHONES AWAY
This one is hard for me… my phone is my camera; my camera is my phone! But seriously no excuses, be present with your family and guests and use the time to ENJOY each other’s company. Talk, play games, color with the children… whatever you decide to do, soak up these moments to be a family!
FOCUS ON BEING THANKFUL
Remember this holiday is about coming together and being thankful for all our blessings. Keep the meaning of thanksgiving in the forefront of the day by highlighting what each of you are thankful for. This could be as easy as asking each guest to say one thing they are thankful for during grace. Or, if you have children attending Thanksgiving, you could create Thankful Turkeys. This is where each child and/or guest could write what they are thankful for on a turkey feather. These could be read out loud before or after dinner.
