As the busy tirade of fall holidays begins, with the king of these celebrations—Thanksgiving—being immediately followed by the rushes of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, it is easy to feel stressed by the very thought of the festive season. There is a vast variety of causes for Thanksgiving stress, from such complex (and delicious) things as rushing to prepare a three-course meal for the holiday after performing some extremely last-minute shopping to matters as trivial as forgetting the amount of visitors one will have during the celebration. In light of this, The GNA Insider offers readers several tips in order to relieve them of the burden of some of these woes and dilemmas:

• Create a plan: sit down at a table, by yourself or with allies in the struggle for Thanksgiving perfection, to create a guest list for the upcoming party. Determine the amount of food you will need to purchase and prepare, and which unique or unexpected and extravagantly complex meals will be served, if any.
• Shop early: complete food purchases as soon as possible, so as to avoid the rush-hour-like crowds of famished buyers and restaurant owners streaming toward the same stashes of delicacies and ingredients as those which you intend to raid. This can be trivialized by creating a shopping list, as recommended above.
• Prepare as much as possible in advance: with the supplies of food which you already have—or with some extra foods which you “accidentally” bought during your food shopping spree—conjure up some of the wide variety of Thanksgiving-appropriate side dishes and desserts to nourish you during the celebration (or possibly prior to it, if your hunger knows no bounds and your “just one bite” impulse is all too strong). If you feel like leaving the actual preparation for the last moment, however, you can play real-life Fruit Ninja on your vegetables and fruit and store them until the holiday cooking competition begins.
• Let your family help: have your whole family help you clean the house, put up decorations, and set the table when the food is prepared and Thanksgiving is in full blow. Try to set an example and follow suit; however, if you are feeling much too exhausted for such a task, then feel free to say that you bought all of the food and thus need not apply, and proceed to relax in whatever manner appeases you most.
• Relax: admire the fruits of your and your family’s efforts, then spend the day with those who are dearest to your heart. Take the time to bond with your loved ones and have fun, eat food, tell jokes, and indulge in the annual football game or Thanksgiving movie with them on the day of the festivity itself. Recall all for which you are thankful, and offer a toast of water or cranberry juice in celebration.
• Shop: draw limitless satisfaction from the unchecked spending of your funds on trinkets of all varieties at the annual nationwide Black Friday store stampede.