You know what’s the worst Thanksgiving tradition? Leaving everything up to Mom. Sadly, it also seems to be the most popular Thanksgiving tradition. So as we head into Thanksgiving, let’s consider a few quick things that should be on every Mom’s checklist. By now, of course, you should know who’s attending. We mean “by now” in the sense of it being a few days before Thanksgiving. There’s also “by now” in the sense that you’ve known some of these people all of your life, and you know by now who’s going to show up without having the common decency to RSVP. But enough of that bitterness. Let’s think happy thoughts about getting ready for the big Thursday…
• Consider today the Last Shopping Day Before Thanksgiving. We guarantee it’ll be the last pleasant shopping day before Thanksgiving. Don’t forget that you might need extra cups and plenty more paper products than you usually keep around.
• Our favorite kinds of things to buy are those special products (like crescent rolls, maybe) that you can make ahead of time and freeze. Nobody will mind. Go ahead and start chopping up those vegetables, too. A full refrigerator is a lot more inspiring when it’s full of plastic containers with food already prepared.
• Put your kids to work! If you have younger guests coming, tell the kiddies that they’re Social Directors in charge of making sure that the other children coming over have plenty of games to play. That’s a great trick to get kids excited about sharing their toys. We’d tell you to also get the kids helping out in the kitchen, but we’ve probably all learned that depends on the actual kid.
• If that turkey is frozen, it should already be out of your freezer. Three days is the minimum for a good thawing. This is also a good time to go over things like washing fresh bedsheets for your guests, or anything else that can be done ahead of time. Don’t go to bed on Wednesday night without making sure that you don’t have anything else in that freezer that should be thawing overnight, either.
• The big tradition on Thanksgiving morning should be getting that turkey full of stuffing (if that’s what you’re into) and having that oven ready to go. Unless you have some kind of expert timing planned, get those side dishes already prepared the night before. You’d be surprised at how many desserts can be made early, too.
Follow these tips and try starting your own tradition of a Thanksgiving that’s free of anxiety. Or at least almost free of anxiety. We still don’t know what to do about people who don’t have the common decency to RSVP
