Holidays can be full of presents, food, games, and awkward family situations.
Every family has its own drama. We all have events or family traditions that we dread going to. So, use this family holiday survival guide to help you navigate those uncomfortable or awkward family moments.
Here is my guide on how to survive the holidays:
Hide from your over-zealous relatives.
Maybe take a walk, you can tell everyone you need to allow your digestive system some time to work. Maybe say you have to go to the store to get a dessert or ingredients for something.
Gather your siblings and/or cousins and find an empty room or corner of the space to hide away from everyone else.
Take the time to play a game or watch a movie while you all hide. If there are younger cousins, offer to take them out to a park or to get a sweet treat. Chances are, everyone will be excited to have a break from looking after the younger family members.
Distraction.
Distract everyone in the family so controversial topics cannot come up. Invoking people’s competitive nature is a great distraction and every family has that one game they are overly enthusiastic about. Some good fallbacks that can be played in a large group and do not allow for split focus are Uno or card games.
Find the gossips of the family, they will act as a shield, as well as explain all the family drama.
We all have those two or three family members who sit in the middle of everything and dish about all the family gossip. They will help you navigate any confrontations. Plus, as the family gossips, everyone else will watch what they say around them. The only downside is that you can become the subject of gossip instead of the audience. Once they start asking questions, it’s time to make a run for it.
Make the people in your family want to avoid you.
This way they will do all the work for you. Carry headphones on you at all times. If all evasive maneuvers fail, putting on a giant headset or earbuds and scrolling through social media will usually discourage unwelcome communication from the older generation.
Make yourself so oppositional that no one wants to argue with you.
If you make yourself an impossible target, they will avoid you. Start the night off by announcing you believe in an outlandish political belief, make one up. It will add an extra kick if you say you found it on TikTok.
On a serious note, pick your battles. The holidays are stressful for a lot of reasons, from picking out gifts to navigating a calendar full of events, so avoid any arguments you don’t have the energy for. An argument over politics or beliefs over the holidays is unlikely to change someone’s entire perspective so avoidance is the better option.
Any of the above suggestions can help you evade, discourage, or all-out ignore the family tension. Just be careful, adjust, or adapt these ideas to make them work for you.
