Holiday Tips: Create a Thanksgiving Planning Calendar

Thanksgiving is “my holiday.”  It was a great holiday for me to claim because typically there isn’t snow yet to make the trip more stressful for my parents and siblings who live in Chicago.  With the seven-hour drive to Minnesota, they usually arrive a day or two before Thanksgiving and stay through the weekend, so planning for this wonderful occasion also means planning for a houseful of guests for four days.

Each year I reflect on what has and hasn’t worked in the past and try to improve upon previous years’ plans.  The goal for me is to have my house clean, all food and beverages purchased, Wednesday’s dinner in the freezer, some bars and sweets baked for the kids and some type of special game or discussion prompter for Thanksgiving dinner — all ready to go before the first guest arrives on Tuesday evening.

This year I decided to devise a calendar for the week preceding Thanksgiving.  I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s better to clean a few days before so I don’t get too tired; nor do I get as uptight as the house unravels.  I start by breaking down the chores to spread them out from Friday – Tuesday:

• Friday: I start with the areas of the house where the kids will spend most of the time - like the basement - so it doesn’t have to look perfect when everyone gets here — just no cobwebs!  I then move to smaller tasks like dusting my entryway chandelier, wiping down the wood steps of the staircase, washing 1^st floor windows and cleaning out my refrigerator.

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Tags: Holiday Meal Planning, Thanksgiving Planning