On a stress scale of 1-10, if 10 is J Man during a fire drill at school and 1 is Unk C at any moment of any given day, holidays tend to make me a very strong 9.
For Thanksgiving this year, we’re hosting family from Florida and Iowa.
You’d think that this might send me over the edge, into fire drill territory. I’m surprisingly relaxed. Eerily calm. Excited to see family, and feeling somewhat que sera sera.
However, if you’re not as perfectly mellow as I am:) here are my tips for relaxing Thanksgiving prep.
1. Light a turkey candle. This is a must.

Bonus points if the candle is cinnamon scented or some other “fallish” scent.
2. Freeze whatever you can ahead of time.

Freeze your apple pie (unbaked). This probably wouldn’t work with pumpkin, but I don’t eat pumpkin pie so this is of no concern to me.

Freeze your ice cream. A no brainer, I guess, but especially helpful if you’re a rockstar like me who’s making her own homemade cinnamon vanilla bean ice cream. That’s right. I just won this game called Thanksgiving.
3. Eat all of the Chex mix.

All of it. My favorite pieces are the whole wheat Chex. Matty B’s favorite pieces are the rice Chex. Our love is meant to be.
4. Channel your inner Martha Stewart and preset your table.

This is tricky when you have two eager helpers with sticky hands and clumsy feet. I almost had a heart attack 11 times as I handed over Grandma V’s china to my well-meaning, yet 3 year old baby girl.
5. And then I took it a step further by setting out the dishes that I’d bake/serve each item in.

You kind of hate me, don’t you? In my defense, I’m working this week AND J Man has a Thanksgiving program/feast that we have to attend AND I promised I’d help with Christmas shoeboxes AND it might be nice if we changed the sheets on the guest beds for our family…so obviously the #1 priority was knowing which dish the Brussels sprouts should go in. (Of course I’m making Brussels sprouts. No one has to eat anything they don’t want to eat on Thanksgiving which means I’ll have all the deliciousness to myself.)
6. Finally, my top tip for relaxing Thanksgiving prep?

Lay on the couch and watch football. Go cowboys!
Also, I addressed my Christmas cards.

Now you really hate me, don’t you?