Make the Holidays with Your Family a Little Easier

It’s here; Thanksgiving week is here and the holidays are now officially upon us. What does this mean? Aside from tighter than normal pants, turkey overdose and entirely too much pie, it means time with your in-laws. Unless you’re lucky enough to love yours (like I am mine) you might not look forward to the holidays. Or maybe you suffer through it with a little extra something in your eggnog throughout the course of the holidays. If you don’t love to spend time with your in-laws during the holidays, you’re not alone; but you can make it a lot more bearable.

Listen

Sometimes all you have to do is be present and really listen to your in-laws to realize that you might actually like them and you can make all future holiday get-togethers much more pleasant. Otherwise, all you have to do is listen and stay on top of the jokes, not respond to what are obvious digs and just try to stay out of conversations you think might not end so well. It really does help to be present through listening.

Take Time to Yourself

Sometimes the best way to get through the holidays with your in-laws is to find some time to yourself. This might mean locking yourself in the bathroom for a while and ignoring everyone, offering to take the family dog for a long, long, long walk or just wandering the expansive property for a bit to take in the sights (read; to enjoy the peace and quiet of not having to listen to anyone criticize your parenting/cooking/cleaning/whatever).

Don’t Respond to Inappropriate Behavior

If you have a rocky relationship with your in-laws, make it a point not to engage them by responding to inappropriate comments or behavior. At the end of the day, it’s going to bother your mother-in-law a lot more than you don’t seem to care that she doesn’t approve of your parenting skills than it will when you start defending yourself to her.

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