Avoiding Thanksgiving Stress 3

Coping with the Relatives and even your own family and friends

We have a lot of different people in our family, but you probably recognize the control freaks, know it alls, the lazy ones who sit on their butts and want to be waited on hand and foot, and the nosy ones.

As we said in our previous article, don’t be afraid to delegate tasks, dishes to donate, and chores to perform. Have aprons on hand so they can’t have any exuce to duck out of the work.

Peeling potatoes, cleaning shrimp, shelling peas or tipping and topping green beans are all things even men can do, and can even do in front of the TV!

For the control freaks and know alls, let them work out their perfectionism by setting the table, or helping with the coats when the guests arrive, or the dishes and other items that the guests will be bringing, but don’t let them cook in the same kitchen with you!

As for the nosy ones, you can pretty much predict the kind of embarrassing personal questions they are going to ask. So, be prepared.

Practice in advance how you’ll answer those questions. If you know you’ll get questions about weight gain or your husband’s lost job, or how long you have been dating your current partner, and is it ’serious’, prepare yourself in advance with answers.

If you still feel uneasy about the event, tackle it with a friend, or hang out with a likeminded family member.

Or have a secret signal with your confidant for “help” so they know to come rescue you.

Or better still, get them to talk about themselves! Most people love that anyway!

Hopefully, your family, friends and relatives will contribute to a happy holiday, not a stressful one, but just in case, we hope you find these stress-free holiday tips useful!

Avoiding Thanksgiving Stress 2

Ask For Help –Delegate-Get Contributions to the Meal

First off, when you make your guest list, ask every guest to bring a single dish of item, and note down what they plan to bring. If you start getting overloaded with dessert at the bottom of the list, suggest salads or veggies as their contribution.

With everyone chipping in it will quickly add up to a large and fab meal, with no one feeling stressed or burdened.

Ask those family members and friends who are “culinary challenged”, to bring some chips, drinks, or even napkins and paper plates.

Also don’t be shy to ask your family and friends to help clean and get ready for the big day. They can run errands for you, help set the table, decorate and cook with you, so long as they aren’t the interfering “I’m always right” even when you know they are wrong types.

Anyone who does not help with the preparation, can always help with the clean up, even if it is just ferrying plates and scraping them. Make sure you have some handy cotton aprons so no one gets their clothes ruined helping out.

It may be your house, but you don’t have to handle everything on your own. If you try, and end up feeling frazzled and unappreciated, your guests will feel uncomfortable and won’t enjoy the day as much.

If you are currently working, this is even more the case. You are supposed to have some days off to enjoy as well, so don’t be a perfectionist, and it is okay to take short-cuts, like pop and fresh rolls, or frozen pies. Not everything has to be made from scratch.

Avoiding Thanksgiving Stress 1

Are you getting stressed just thinking about the holiday season approaching?

Given the current state of the financial world, that is not surprising.

But there are many other reasons too why Thanksgiving may give us the jitters. From the stress caused by having to plan a 3-course meal for many people, to being questioned again by your aunt as to when you will finally start having kids or why you’ve gained 10 pounds, the holidays can me more of a trial than tremendous fun, Especially if you are hosting this year.

Fortunately, there are a lot of things you can do to reduce this kind of holiday stress, so that you can have fun too and not end up completely exhausted.

We’ve already covered planning ahead in our previous articles, but we also have to remember that we have regular daily lives, chores, and to do lists as well.

But if you keep everything in one place, like a master notebook, it will help you juggle everything more successfully.

Also make life easier for yourself in the future by making your lists on the computer. Then you can not only change it quickly and easily pretty much any time, you can save it for next year and years to come.

The same thing with your recipes. Save them and print them out, make notes on them and then you can update them on the computer.

Even better than your own lists, are your family and friends lists. Because, let’s face it, you are not Super Person. Everyone needs help, so you are going to delegate.

Are you getting stressed just thinking about the holiday season approaching?

Given the current state of the financial world, that is not surprising.

But there are many other reasons too why Thanksgiving may give us the jitters. From the stress caused by having to plan a 3-course meal for many people, to being questioned again by your aunt as to when you will finally start having kids or why you’ve gained 10 pounds, the holidays can me more of a trial than tremendous fun, Especially if you are hosting this year.

Fortunately, there are a lot of things you can do to reduce this kind of holiday stress, so that you can have fun too and not end up completely exhausted.

We’ve already covered planning ahead in our previous articles, but we also have to remember that we have regular daily lives, chores, and to do lists as well.

But if you keep everything in one place, like a master notebook, it will help you juggle everything more successfully.

Also make life easier for yourself in the future by making your lists on the computer. Then you can not only change it quickly and easily pretty much any time, you can save it for next year and years to come.

The same thing with your recipes. Save them and print them out, make notes on them and then you can update them on the computer.

Even better than your own lists, are your family and friends lists. Because, let’s face it, you are not Super Person. Everyone needs help, so you are going to delegate.

Step 2: Plan the Meal

Once you know how many guests you’ll have, then the fun begins. You get to dream about food.

Of course there are the old standbys like ham and turkey, but there’s so much more to a wonderful Thanksgiving meal.

Once you have your guest list of who is coming, contact family members to find out what they can each bring. That will help you to adjust your menu plan accordingly.

Take note of everyone willing to bring an item, even if they aren’t sure yet what to bring.

It does not have to be anything specific. Categories will do for now:

Appetizers

Main Dishes

Side Dishes

Breads/Rolls

Salads

Soups

Desserts

Again, we will give you some great recipes for many of these items in case you have to provide them, so no worries.

But there will be some special considerations depending on your number of guests, and who they are.

Do you have anyone who needs special dietary requirements? Perhaps your Uncle John is diabetic or Aunt Mary is allergic to peanuts ot wheat, and your cousin Amy is a vegetarian or even vegan.

Be sure to keep their needs in mind while you’re planning. Try to offer some lighter, lower calorie alternatives to balance out some of the “heavier” traditional dishes.

Then there is the difference between a whole turkey and a turkey breast. Some people love dark meat, some hate it. Also, dark meat is far more fattening. For every one ounce of turkey, we are talking 1 gram of fat for the breast meat, vs 3 grams of fat for the dark meat. If you end up eating 4, 6 or 8 ounces of turkey, that would be the difference between 4 and 12, 6 and 18, or 8 and 24 whopping ounces of fat.

So if anyone is diet-conscious at your house,think about doing a turkey breast, and having the stuffing on the side.

As usual, you are in charge of the Thanksgiving meal this year.

Or even worse, it is YOUR turn to host at your place.

Can you pull it off?

Yes, with a little bit of planning ahead of time, you can throw a great family Thanksgiving get-together without stressing or being busy for weeks.

The key is advanced planning. These articles will help you get everything organized for the big day with the least amount of hassle, and of course, we have great recipes for you too!

Step 1: Make A Guest List.

It’s next to impossible to determine how much food to buy and cook without knowing how many mouths you will be feeding. Contact friends and family early and request they RSVP by a certain date.

Follow up with them in the weeks and days before Thanksgiving to make sure you know who is and isn’t coming.

Plan for at least 2 extra guests – more if you are entertaining a larger crowd.

And after all, what is Thanksgiving without leftovers. Better to have too much food, than too little.

They will also be likely to bring something to contribute to the meal, so as it gets closer to the time, your list will be invaluable in not only knowing who is coming, but who is bringing dessert, pies, wine, beer, green bean casserole, and so on.