Give Thanks

Preparing To Give Thanks

21 Comments / Home, Moms, Organization / By

Are you counting down the days to Thanksgiving, knowing that you will have a house filled with guests? If you are already a very organized person, this thought won’t make you nervous. But, if you’re like the rest of us, your heart may start racing with anxiety.

pumpkin

The good news is that there is still plenty of time to get your home ready for a perfectly wonderful day of giving thanks. Remember, when there is something to celebrate, it’s all about the people that you are with. It’s not necessary to impress everyone.

Getting organized is what is needed in order to be ready, less-stressed, and really enjoy the holiday. It won’t feel like Thanksgiving if you’re just barely surviving. You want to make memories that are peaceful and fun.

Here are some great tips to help you get organized and ready to give thanks:

Plan

  • Make a Master List of all the things you want to accomplish before the big day. Then, break it down into what needs to be done each week before Thanksgiving. The weekly list can now easily be broken down into daily tasks.
  • Meals should also be planned. Your everyday meals still need to be cooked, so use a Meal Planner to stay organized and have everything you need to cook.

Declutter

  • Do you wonder how you’ll be able to let guests use your bathrooms? Are they a mess? It’s great to throw out any empty containers or slivers of soap.
  • Kid’s toy shelves and closets need a good weeding. This is a perfect time to let children give away a few toys that they don’t use.
  • De-clutter the kitchen pantry and refrigerator.
  • Child-proof your home, if there are little ones coming to visit.

Organize

  • Now that you’ve de-cluttered, you may still have a mess. Do you need places to store things that you’re keeping? This is a good time to buy some baskets or containers to artfully store things.
  • The kitchen pantry could use a good tidying up. Put like things together. This prevents you from buying too much food that you already have. After you get the pantry organized you’ll have more room for holiday recipe ingredients.
  • Organize bathroom and linen closets. Make sure that there are plenty of towels handy and lots of extra toilet paper. That’s not something you want to run out of with extra people in the house.
  • Organize the coat closet so that you have room for your guests coats.
  • Around the holidays, there are lots of extra activities for your children. Do you have a type of “command center” in your home? Have a place to file all the papers that come into your home. Set up a calendar and place to coordinate everyone’s schedule. Don’t let events slip up on you because you weren’t organized.
  • Keep a list-maker handy and write down things as you think of them. Make sure you keep plenty of batteries. The tv remote always dies when you least expect it.
Give Thanks

Cleaning

  • Clean out the refrigerator to make room for all the holiday dishes.
  • Clean each room from top to bottom, dusting first. Vacuum, mop, and scrub anything that needs it.
  • When your home is really clean it makes more of a difference than spending money on new things. And, of course, this isn’t a good time to start any major home improvements or renovations.
  • Delegate! Have your children work with a chore chart to help you with some of the cleaning.
  • A good way to clean is to set the buzzer for 15 minutes and clean like crazy. Then, just do this daily until everything’s ready.

Shop

  • Plan the Big Meal and create your grocery list. The week of Thanksgiving is a great time to buy some foods on your list. Most stores offer big discounts.
  • Purchase any decorating items or a centerpiece at the last minute.

Cook

  • Cook some dishes ahead of time, especially casseroles
  • Make a cooking schedule, so you’ll put things in the oven in the right order. I write down the time we plan to eat and then work backwards, cooking dishes in a certain order based on the cooking temperature. In this way, we always eat on time.
  • Get helpers. Your guests will usually volunteer to help chop, mash, and stir. Say yes to the offer and smile.

Enjoy and Give Thanks! It’s such a blessing to have family or friends to celebrate a day like Thanksgiving. Give praise to God for all the good things in your life.

@2019, copyright Lisa Ehrman

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Lisa Ehrman
Lisa Ehrman
Lisa has been blogging since 2013, and loves sharing resources and ideas for living a simple life. To get free printables, bonus words, and more - sign up for the newsletter.

21 thoughts on “Preparing To Give Thanks”

  1. Sandy Klocinski

    Check your cookware and kitchen tools. In addition to planning your menu, it’s just as important to make sure you have all the cookware and kitchen tools you’ll need. If you haven’t already, now’s the time to take inventory

    Reply
  3. Sandy Klocinski

    I hate the cleaning in preparation for the Holidays so I try to keep up with it on a daily basis so there isn’t so much to do. I usually go to my sister’s for Thanksgiving so that takes some of the pressure off

    Reply
    1. chronicallycontent

      You’re really smart to keep things clean on a regular basis. I’m not usually able to, but I admire those that are. Going to your sister’s house sounds fun and I hope y’all have a wonderful time 🙂

      Reply
  4. Tracie Cooper

    I love all the tips. My favorite is to declutter so much easier to keep tidy and clean a house after all unused items or gotten rid of!

    Reply
  6. Sarah L

    When I saw the title I thought about all the things I’m thankful for. After reading this, I’m thankful that all I have to do is make some deviled eggs to take to my friend’s house.

    Reply
  7. Dorothy Boucher

    I know there is so much to do before Thanksgiving, I havn’t even started to do anything yet! still not sure what i’m going to be doing. But no matter what I always give thanks, Also I do know I need to get cleaning and organizing.
    @tisonlyme143

    Reply
  9. Mary Gardner

    These are all great tips. I find that decluttering makes just about everything easier along with cooking as many dishes as possible ahead of time.

    Reply

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