You can conquer almost any fear if you will make up your mind to do so. For remember, fear doesn’t exist anywhere else, except in the mind.
-Dale Carnegie

What a timely quote, considering I’m staring at the next three days of final preparations for my son’s graduation open house. By the time you read this, I will be totally de-stressed from all of my open house anxiety, but as I write, I am about a stressed as a youngest can get.

One of my biggest questions is, why do we have such a huge affair for a high school graduation? Apparently this is not the norm for the rest of the country. I’m finding out this kind of party is only popular in certain areas.

This was confirmed by the reaction of a friend who grew up in Maryland, when I told her I had the tent rented and the tables and chairs were coming – her reply said it all: “What? A tent? Why on earth are you renting a tent? How big is this party, anyway?”
This woman graduated from a large high school just outside of Washington, D.C., and they held commencement at the Kennedy Center – yes, that’s what I said, the Kennedy Center! And they only gathered the family together for a meal; they didn’t even go to the trouble of having a custom-made cake.

Meanwhile back in the Midwest, the land of extravagant parties, mothers everywhere are suffering from anxiety of their open house preparations with fears galore consuming their every thought.
But I have a plan of attack: As fear creeps into my mind, I will push it out and fill it with how much money I spent on open house food and the fact that we will have to take a 17th mortgage out on the farm to pay for it. And then there are the decisions – like, should we, dairy farmers, provide pop to drink or not? And what kind of containers do I get for the table arrangements? And should I put up those cute pictures of my son in the bathtub or not?
Where should I put the tent? Will anyone notice the weeds behind the old chicken coop? Does that dress still fit that I wanted to wear to graduation?

Oh, I forgot to invite them; I wonder how much it will cost to Fed Ex an invitation across town? And will they know I forgot to add them to the guest list? Balloons or no balloons? Green table covers or white?

Where are the senior pictures? Will they notice the cobwebs in the back room? Will anyone notice the bushes aren’t manicured? Why can’t the boys do a better job of trimming?

And just exactly how am I going to get a box of Snickers bars broken into small pieces for the sundae bar? How long will the whipped cream stay whipped if it’s 85 and sunny? What if it rains? How many people will come? And how much toilet paper will I go through?

Who has time for fear with all these questions floating through my head? Time to get crushing the Oreos, Snickers and Reese’s!

 The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Melissa Hart may write to her in care of this publication.