Do you get party anxiety?

Twas the dawn of Thanksgiving and all through the house,

not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

The coffee was brewing, the fridge full of food,

this Mommy was dreaming of feeding her brood.

With visions of Pinterest and culinary delights,

the Thanksgiving table would be quite a sight.

Pretty place settings with fall colored linens

would welcome our guests as candlelight glistens.

The food will be prepped with effortless ease,

and presented so the palette and eyes will be pleased.

This Mom puts on music to chop and to peel,

not knowing her expectations are completely unreal.

Two hours later the house is a frenzy,

with dishes and messes and football on tele.

“Clear off your bowl and take out the trash”

yells mother to all who can hear the tongue lash.

“Clean your rooms and get dressed, there is company coming”

the kids run and hide because they know what is brewing.

That joyful mom who started the day

is fussing and stressing and falling away.

The party anxiety she tried to avoid

is slowly arising to soon be deployed.

“Where is everybody and why aren’t they helping?”

(perhaps to avoid all the panicky yelling?)

“The house is a mess and I still haven’t showered,

people will be here in just three more hours!”

“We need folding chairs and to sweep up the floor

and could somebody please fix this damn broken drawer?”

The problem you see is that no one can hear,

the family escapes to their rooms out of fear.

Fear that the orders and requests will not end,

that PANIC is this year’s Thanksgiving trend.

Mean party-Mommy who’s stressed and annoyed

is a tradition my family would rather avoid.

A glimpse in the mirror helps this mom to see through

to a frowning and messy and cranky old shrew.

Whatever happened to that joy filled mom,

that started the day with excitement and calm?

What am I really afraid of today?

So what if things aren’t perfect on this holiday?

I’ve allowed unwelcome visitors into my home:

Expectation and Perfection and they steal all the fun.

This holiday game is like playing a sport,

when it’s stops being fun then GET OFF THE COURT.

Nobody cares how pretty things look,

it’s me who wants it to be like a page in a book.

I need to remember on Thanksgiving day,

that this is a GAME I am CHOOSING to play.

Getting mad at my family for not joining in,

is silly cause it’s a sport they’d rather not win.

They don’t ask me to throw in a ball

or sub for the goalie who has taken a fall.

I’m the one who cares about creating the dream,

it’s okay they don’t want to be a part of my team.

I don’t want them to hate this sport that I love,

to hide out in fear when company comes.

So join me in toasting to holiday CHEER,

to cook and clean without any fear.

The only way to lose this Thanksgiving game

is to be so tense you forget it’s name.

HAVE A PEACEFUL AND JOYFUL THANKSGIVING!

p.s. let me know if you win the game!