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We can't believe how quickly the holiday season is approaching us. While the kiddos are writing out their ridiculously insane Santa lists and impatiently waiting on those Amazon deliveries, there's still one holiday us mamas have to rock out - Thanksgiving. 

If your kids are like ours, they're lurking in the kitchen when you're trying to cook, low key raid their snack bin or sneaking in that glass of afternoon wine -  YEP, they be catching us. There's no doubt, they'll be in your face during Thanksgiving preparations.

Instead of getting super annoyed at dad for tuning them out, let them IN the kitchen! Below are some helpful tips on how they can actually help you, and how you can help you by keeping your cool:-)

FOR MINIS:

1. Have them help decide on the menu! Dressing or Stuffing? Pecan Pie or Sweet Potato Pie? Green Beans, Corn, or both? When kids get to help choose menu items, they will be more likely to try it on Thanksgiving (moms of picky kids rejoice) and will feel like they helped the big day happen! Here's a good list of kid-approved Thanksgiving sides.
2. Have them help you prep! You probably don't want to put a knife in the hands of your threenager, but they can help wash produce or scrub potatoes. You can help them pour and prep ingredients for recipes, and send them to play while you actually make the dish. Kids get to feel like rockstars, and you get peace of mind knowing they won't be near a hot stove or oven. Check out these good safety tips before jumping in the kitchen.
3. Have your kids create a Gratitude Jar. Going around the table and asking what you're thankful for is sweet, but spice it up by having guests write on paper slips what they're thankful for and adding them to a jar that your child helped decorate. During dessert, have the kids pull out the slips and guess who said what. ***Bonus points if you add some funny things you're thankful for to the jar. Here's a cool tutorial if you need some ideas.

FOR MAMAS

1. Prep as much as you can before the actual day! Lots of dishes can be made ahead of time and reheated. If you want to commit to making everything the day of, you can at least get the pie filling ready and chop veggies the night before! For an extensive list of make-ahead-recipes, check out this link from Food Network!
2. Have a moment to yourself. We know this is one of the craziest days of the year, but it's important to take care of yourself. Give yourself enough time to enjoy your morning coffee or take as long of a shower as you want. Just make sure another family member wrangles the kids while you're relaxing! Check out these easy ways to de-stress.
3. Let go of perfection. Better Homes & Gardens and HGTV makes it look so easy for everything to be perfect, but the perfect Thanksgiving is the one that you spend with your loved ones. Need help letting go, we got you --- check this out!