Every fall gathering has a familiar rhythm. Whether you’re hosting a Saturday football watch party, Thanksgiving dinner, or the first family get-together of the Christmas season, you can almost predict what’s going to happen. Someone spills the chili before kickoff. A glass of red wine gets knocked over. The family dog somehow sneaks an appetizer (or three). Nobody planned it, but everyone expects it. None of these things is surprising. They happen every year. So anticipate the spill. That’s the best hosting advice I can offer.

I’m not just talking about the literal spill – although that will probably happen. “Anticipate the spill” is really a mindset. The best hosts don’t expect everything to go perfectly. They expect real life to happen, and they’re prepared for it. If you’re serving chili on game day or cranberry sauce, gravy, pumpkin pie, and red wine at Thanksgiving, have paper towels, microfiber cloths, and a good stain remover within easy reach. When the inevitable happens, you won’t panic. You’ll simply clean it up and get back to enjoying the evening.

Once you start thinking this way, you’ll see opportunities to anticipate the spill throughout your preparations. If you’re hosting a football crowd, don’t just prepare the room with the TV. Expect the kitchen to become Grand Central Station before kickoff, during halftime, and long after the final whistle. Clear the kitchen island of clutter because that’s where people naturally gather for food, drinks, and conversation. For Thanksgiving, make room in the refrigerator before you shop, and organize your serving platters before the turkey comes out of the oven. A little planning now means less scrambling when the doorbell starts ringing.

Another simple way to anticipate the spill is to create a hosting station – a basket or drawer stocked with the things that always seem to disappear the moment company arrives, such as a corkscrew, scissors, tape, a Sharpie, batteries, a phone charger, food storage containers, extra trash bags, and yes, a stain remover. You’ll be surprised how often you reach for it.

The biggest mistake I see isn’t a stain on the carpet; it’s trying to do everything the day before. Spread the work over several days. Finish the little repairs you’ve been putting off, sort through your holiday decorations, and empty the dishwasher before guests arrive so dirty dishes will have somewhere to go. Leave yourself with only a few last-minute touch-ups on the day of your gathering.

Here’s the funny thing – once you start anticipating these small moments, they stop feeling like problems and simply become part of the celebration. Because no matter how well you plan, something unexpected will happen. It always does. A drink will get spilled; someone will head home with leftovers in a container you didn’t think you’d need; the kitchen will still be buzzing long after the game is over. But years from now, those are the moments people will remember – not whether your windows were spotless or every throw pillow was perfectly arranged. They’ll remember the big game that had everyone cheering at the television, the Thanksgiving dinner conversations that lingered long after dessert, and the feeling of being welcomed into a home where they could relax and simply enjoy being together.

So this holiday season, don’t chase perfection. Anticipate the spill. Because when you stop worrying about the little messes, you’ll have more time to enjoy the people who made them.