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Thanksgiving Hosting Tips to Make Life Easier
It’s the best time of the year, full of food, family, and memories. But with a house full of guests comes the added stress of keeping a presentable home that’s inviting and festive. If you’re hosting for the holidays, here are a few quick and easy tips to get your home ready.
Plan in Advance
The week, or even two weeks, leading up to Thanksgiving, add a few chores a day to your schedule to break things up into smaller, manageable chunks of time. For example, the Thursday a week out from Thanksgiving, make your menu and grocery list. On Friday, do your grocery shopping to get ahead of the crowds and avoid stores being out of the staples. A few days before, wash any linens and towels for guests and go through the pile of junk mail that’s accumulated. Breaking up chores makes for a much better overall experience. Meal prep by chopping up vegetables or peeling potatoes a day ahead of time, even making mashed potatoes the night before. You can reheat on Thanksgiving day in a crockpot, relieving one more item from the oven shuffle. This prep will free up your time (and counter space) the day of for cooking.
Make a Timeline for Thanksgiving Day
It’s incredibly helpful to create a timeline for the big day. Map out in time increments that work best for you, whether that’s on the hour or even every 15 minutes. This will also help you stagger food times, so that it’s not an hour before dinner and you have seven dishes that all need to go in your oven at one time. By having a timeline, you also won’t have to keep doing mental math for what comes next and trying to prioritize things.
Keep it Simple
Whether incorporating a couple of pre-made sides to the dinner table, or skipping the elaborate table setting, prioritize the few things that are the most important to you, and don’t be afraid to skimp on the rest. Didn’t have time to perfectly organize your bookshelf before the in-laws arrive? Don’t sweat these small details! Soaking in family time should always take priority over stressing about the hyper-focused details that most people wouldn’t notice anyway. This can be easier said than done, so making a list of priorities vs. things lower down that are acceptable to miss will be handy.
Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help
If you’re hosting in your home, guests are typically eager to offer up help. Take it! Let them peel the potatoes or wash the dishes in the sink to free you up to work on other priorities. Ask everyone to sign up for a side dish to bring. And if you want to cross cleaning off the list so that you can focus on food and decorating, give Home Clean Heroes a call. Our thorough and professional cleaning service will have your home clean, inviting, and ready to have new memories made in it.
Home Clean Heroes is here for all your home cleaning needs, whether pre-or post-holiday cleanup, or as a regular treat to free you up to focus on other things. If you’d like to find out more about our home cleaning service, give us a call at 844-439-4376
