Holiday Goals?
What’s your goal for this Thanksgiving?
The correct answer is to have a wonderful meal, be thankful and enjoy time with family and friends, right? RIGHT?
It’s so easy to get sucked into the idea that our holidays should look and be perfect. In case you’re unaware, WE AREN’T PERFECT.
I dream of my Thanksgiving table looking like a Southern Living cover.
I want the food to be impressive and delicious.
I imagine pulling off a beautiful day without stress or breaking a sweat.
If I scratch the surface, the ugly truth is that my secret goal has very little to do with thankfulness and relationships. I want to be complimented and appreciated. To be fair, I do want my guests to feel honored that I would go to “all that trouble” because I love them and want to pamper them, but I can make them feel that way in ways that will not raise my blood pressure, break the bank or keep me up late at night planning or setting up.
I want to challenge you to SIMPLIFY. If the “main thing” about Thanksgiving is gratitude and relationships, make that the main thing. Here’s a few suggestions to accomplish that…
Plan today! The menu, the grocery list, the decorations, whatever you can. I’m a bit obsessive, but I generally reverse engineer a to-do list when I’m hosting a dinner party - starting with the time I want the food on the table and working backwards to when things need to go in/out of the oven and/or be prepped to make the timeline a reality.
Prep everything you can earlier in the week.
Use disposable goods. I love beautiful china as much as the next person, but what if I was able to sit on the couch with my family or play a game instead of washing dishes on dishes. [for the environmentally conscious folks, buy responsibly 🤍]
Enlist help. Assign items for others to cook/bring. If you have specific recipes you want, share them. You really don’t have to do it all yourself! And, let your younger children help if they want - as imperfect as it might be. And resist the temptation to go behind them and improve what they’ve done.
Consider store-bought items. From a store-bought pie to the entire meal, grocery stores can provide some much-needed help. If anyone complains, let them take care of the prep next year!
The November and December holidays come pre-loaded with stress. Acknowledge and anticipate it, but do everything you can to lower the levels - everyone will appreciate it!
Happy Thanksgiving!
