The holidays can be a stressful time of year for a lot of reasons. After the gifts are wrapped, the turkey is cooked, and everyone is sitting around the Christmas dinner table there is still the matter of difficult family members. And by that, we mean the in-laws.
While there are certainly many who have wonderful relationships with their significant others’ family, there seem to be just as many who don’t. And when the holiday season forces them into the same room, tensions easily bubble over. Luckily, eQuibbly has a few tips for enjoying your holiday gatherings without the need to call for a medic.
Avoid Hot Button Issues
It might be tempting to debate politics, religion, and all manner of controversy while you’re sitting around the dinner table. After all, what better time to finally convince your card-carrying-member-of-the-NRA father-in-law that his semi-automatic rifles should be illegal, right? Wrong. There is a time and a place for these types of debates and it’s not at a festive holiday gathering. If someone tries to goad you into having this kind of debate, try your best to deflect, or agree to disagree as quickly as possible.
Focus on the Positive
If you’ve been dreading your visit to the in-laws for the past year, it’s easy to build up a lot of negativity, which won’t help the cause. Instead, try to focus on those few things that you might like about the get-together. Maybe your mother-in-law makes an amazing pumpkin pie and perhaps your father-in-law mixes a good stiff drink. No matter how difficult, focus on the positive and it should be much more enjoyable.
Sober Up!
If there is one thing that makes you want to have a drink, odds are it’s your in-laws. But even though throwing back pint after pint might seem like a really good idea, it’s not. Nothing wrong with a couple of drinks, but know your limit. Or chances are you will end up saying something you later regret.
Go to Your Happy Place
Even if you have the worst in-laws in the world, you can always remember this cheerful thought: the holidays only come around once a year! So grin and bear it while you must.
If these tips don’t work, remember that eQuibbly is here to help should you need to resolve a holiday dispute or disagreement.
Sources:
http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/surviving-laws-holiday-season/story?id=17770180#.UNJTkonjk-0
http://www.womenshealthmag.com/life/survive-your-inlaws
http://www.hitchedmag.com/article.php?id=1282
