When you really think about it, the party process can be quite a setup for stress and disappointment. You run all over town collecting each theme-related, and color coordinated, piece for your party, select the cake, food, invitations - which must be then mailed out - and half your guests have the audacity to show up without even a card!

Ha ha ha… I'm sure this is quite a Pessimistic way to think about the whole party-planning process, but at some point after the party, when you're finding empty cans and paper plates stashed in your bookshelf, you have to think to yourself - was all my running around worth the time and stress of this after-party cleanup duty?

Quite simply, the answer is yes! It's all worth it! All the running around, planning, and clean-up is worth it - as long as you know how to reduce the stress impact on yourself.

Let's face it, clean-up duty is the ‘after-math' of throwing a great party, but it can still cause reason for stress if you're cleaning up days after the event!

Tip 1: Place at least 2-3 over-sized trash cans, with bags, in convenient, easy-access areas where guests can see them. Don't hide them in the kitchen where there is limited-to-no traffic flow. Do place one near the food area so guests can cleanup after themselves. And, to make life even easier, drag one over during gift-opening time and let children make a game of playing ‘basketball' with the gift-wrap. Whatever gets them motivated to clean!

Tip 2: Don't refuse the help when its offered. The words "No, No, leave that there. I'll get it later." should not be coming out of your mouth. If they were kind enough to offer, you're kind enough to accept! ;o)

Tip 3: Don't make the mistake of using utensils, plates, or cups which can't be tossed. There's no need to run up the water bill cleaning dishes! And as a bonus, your guests have no excuse to not cleanup after themselves.

Tip 4: Make certain household areas off-limits. Nothing kills the after-party euphoria like finding a plate of unfinished food stashed away behind your vase in the living room or study.

Tip 5: For extremely large parties, consider hiring a cleaning service for an hour or two. Of course, you'll want to schedule ahead of time and have them come 2-3 hours after the party is over to make sure all your guests have left by the time the help gets there. OR, you could use my favorite method here and solicit friends and/or family to stay afterwards for 2-3 hours to help you clean. Nothing beats ‘free'!

Tip 6: Set a party end-time which allows you to clean up during regular hours. There's no need to be up at midnight cleaning up after others. Plus, it beats having to get up the next day to clean.

Cleaning up after any party should not be a hassle or last longer than 2 hours max. Just implement these simple rules which all have one basic theme tying them together: provide guests with the ease of cleaning up after themselves during the party - after all, you're the one who's done all the real hard work up to this point… why should you be left holding the trash bag?