Think positive.

We can do this. We’re lucky to have family and friends to spend time with (even if they drive us crazy) and food to eat at our feasts. Hopefully we have friends who will join us to celebrate today and help smooth things when our relatives are getting a bit uppity.

Don’t stress yourself worrying about how your Thanksgiving will go (whether you are worried about your travel, hosting, or spending the holiday at someone’s house).

Nothing has to be perfect.

Thanksgiving is about being with family and friends. If you undercook or overcook the turkey, that’s ok – people will happily eat the mashed potatoes instead. If old rude Uncle Joe starts in on you about politics, that’s ok, you knew he would. Sigh and try to change the subject. Your tablecloth is stained or a bit ratty? Who cares – it was put on the table fresh and clean, right? Your furniture has cat-scratch marks on it, and your relatives will see it? Oh well, it means you have pets you love.

If something spills, wipe it up with a smile. Stains on your apron or clothing from cooking? Good, that means you worked hard to make something nice for your family. June Cleaver isn’t here in her pearls and heels and immaculate freshly starched dress to make us look bad.

If someone cries, hand them a tissue, and give them a hug. If that person is you, have your cry for a few minutes but don’t let it ruin your day, and don’t let yourself contribute to family drama.

There are some things that won’t change, and some things we can’t control. No, our houses will never be as clean as our mother-in-laws’ homes. Nor will the food we cook ever be as tasty as his mom’s cooking (to him). We will never have as nice of cars or furniture or as big a house as our brother-and-sister in law. We’re good cooks, but there’s always an Aunt Edna or a Gramma known for being the best cook ever. That’s ok, let them enjoy that title. We still make darn delicious food.

It’s all going to be ok. We can do this.

Take care of yourself first.

One thing that helps is for sure having some quiet alone time today as well as some tomorrow morning. If you have guests over, you might not be able to take half an hour tonight to hog the bathroom and enjoy a long hot bath. So maybe do something relaxing in the morning (read a book? magazine? go for a quick walk?) to de-stress before the stress even starts. Give yourself permission to take time for yourself, so you can give more of yourself as the holiday begins.

Delegate! Thanksgiving is not all about you, and you can’t be the Queen of Thanksgiving. If someone offers to help, let them. If someone offers to bring a dish, let them. (Worried Aunt Ida will bring her nasty sugary marshmallow yams? That’s ok, let her and be grateful she’s not bringing her mushy overcooked cold mashed potatoes).

One of the things I’m doing to emotionally survive the holiday is having a special after-Thanksgiving casual movie night on Saturday night for any friends who are still in town. We’ll wear comfy sweats or pajamas, eat leftovers or fresh fruits and veggies, and watch fun movies while relaxing. Friends are the family you choose, and I choose to be around happy, fun, easygoing people on my four-day weekend.

And a special note to anybody reading this who might be spending their Thanksgiving alone. It’s ok, it happens to all of us. Not everybody has family close by, or the ability to travel, and sometimes people have to work on Thanksgiving or the day after. On more than one Thanksgiving in years past, I absolutely couldn’t face the whole thing and voluntarily stayed home alone and I truly did have a good time. Instead of sitting there feeling sorry for yourself for being alone, think of all of us who are having our crusty old relatives argue with us about religion or politics, ask us why we’re still single (or not pregnant yet, or still fat, etc etc) and possibly fighting with our grown siblings.

I’ll never forget when my friend Chris moved to New York and spent his first Thanksgiving alone in a big scary city where he knew nobody. Instead of crying at home over a TV dinner and a big glass of whiskey like I might have, he went out and volunteered at a homeless shelter, cooking and serving their Thanksgiving meal, and eating it with the homeless people and the other volunteers. Awesome! Inspiring!

Make yourself a special delicious treat to eat, watch a movie or put on your favorite music and enjoy your relaxing alone time. If you are feeling a bit blue, skip the alcohol and have hot cocoa instead.

A special challenge:

Try to be there “in the moment” during all your Thanksgiving meal, plus during the preparation before it and recovery after it. What do I mean by this? Don’t spend all your time texting your friends; don’t spend all day on your cell phone talking to people who aren’t there in person. You can talk to your friends and text them all day long some other time. Thanksgiving is supposed to be about reconnecting with family who you don’t see often. Give them respect by giving them your full attention. Granted, we do all have people we’ll need to phone to wish a happy Thanksgiving. Try to keep those calls brief, and get it done in a chunk of time if you can so you aren’t constantly sneaking off to another room.

This is obviously quite a pet peeve of mine, but I implore you with all my heart to think about this issue seriously. Try, if you can, to spend quality time (not texting time) with the people who took time out of their busy lives to spend tomorrow in person with you, celebrating with you face to face. Your text buddies will be there tomorrow and always.