How To Survive Christmas With Your Family

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Visiting the extended family for the holidays? Here's how to keep your sanity in the face of all that good cheer.

To complete this How-To you will need:

A sense of humor
Patience
Peace on earth, good will toward men

Step 1: Decide on the length of your visit and share this information with everyone immediately so there are no hurt feelings or misunderstandings. If you're staying for a shorter time than your family wants (and you will) blame it on work or your travel arrangements.

Tip: Make travel plans well in advance so you're not stuck with six connecting flights, and consider booking a room in a nearby hotel so you have a nightly escape route.

Step 2: Sure, you'll get presents, but they'll probably things you might have wanted back in fourth grade. Grin and bear them, graciously. And provide gift receipts with all the presents you give—maybe next year your family will get the hint and return the favor.

Step 3: Nothing will make the family cook happier than seeing you enjoy their food, so take two or three very small helpings of everything, which will give the impression you're eating more than you actually are.

Tip: If you're worried about gaining weight, insist on going for a walk or jog—it'll have the added bonus of getting you out of the house!

Step 4: Have a drink to settle your nerves, but watch out—the more you indulge, the more likely you are to overeat, wake up with a hangover, or blurt out what you think of your sister's parenting skills.

Step 5: Bite your tongue. Don't let a thoughtless remark by Aunt Tillie ruin your day, or decide that Christmas Eve is the perfect time to have it out with your obnoxious cousin Ezra.

Step 6: Prepare in advance for irksome questions. For example, if Grandma Edith always asks why "a beautiful girl like you is still single," plan to reply, "I'm holding out for Mr. Wrong." You'll be less stressed knowing you can shut the meddlers down with a witty retort.

Step 7: Create a diversion. If the attention shifts to you or is heading down a familiar path that always leads to a fight, take the opportunity to reveal a juicy bit of gossip about another branch of the family that you've saved just for this occasion.

Step 8: Take your expectations down a few notches, and be appreciative for the effort your family made toward the holidays, even if they weren't successful. No family is perfect. Instead of trying to change yours, enjoy them as they are.

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Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• HomeFamily
• christmas
• holiday
• holidays
• season
• survive
• family
• celebration
• eve
• patience
• travel

[Gimpible]

There talking About Christmas During Halloween!?

[HTJT5]

I just hate ppl whi say stuff like 1st! :D

[jona692ify]

!st

[Catherine9041]

The music in this video...

It burns. o_e

[MyLyricsVideosRock]

@bluewisdomtriforce

NOPE

[MyLyricsVideosRock]

| The person below me is wrong. |

\|/

[bluewisdomtriforce]

last

[b0b0holic]

i had been holding in ALOT of feelings from pass incounters with my family during the Christmas holiday.....my jealous cousin Ami commented on my boots SHE got me saying ''Why did you wear those today?'' in a very snotty way...my father yelled at me for not taking the turkey out the oven early so it kinda burned.....my grandmother said why dont i wear bra (when i was) and by then i yelled ''WHO THE HECK ASKED YOU TO LOOK AT MY TIT!'' then i knew everyone was looking at me so i ate outside... :(

[byronlee991017]

step one JUST SAY NO

[DaggersnRoses]

when i wuz in 6th grade i got things i wanted in 2nd :( and on the other side of my family i got old ppl stuff like stupid sweaters and soap yippee :(

[electrogeek77]

To those that don't get stressed - that's fantastic, but not every family gets along easily, or can handle stress very well, especially if they have a lot of stressors in their lives. Belittling people's difficulties just because you can't seem to fathom them yourself makes things worse.

[Christina140892]

steop 7, beautiful