Holidays and special occasions mean family gatherings, travel, house guests and spending more time with relatives. You may find that rather than feeling cheerful, family has you feeling stressed or overwhelmed. Here are a few tips to manage your time and handle conflicts and stress that may arise.
- Be prepared for some conflict. When visiting relatives try to keep your expectations realistic. If you usually have conflict, try to prepare for it. Change your responses to the other person. Use active listening. For instance if your mother tells you that you are putting on weight, repeat back to her, 'I understand that you’re concerned I’m putting on weight.'
- Take turns with relatives. Most married couples like to celebrate time with both sides of the family. Families with a divorce or separation have challenges, such as, dividing time with children. Taking turns is an easy solution. Alternating years or holidays so that everybody can be together, is a healthy plan.
- Stay home. If the stress of traveling is too much to handle, you may want to have family at your home. If seeing family causes you great amounts of stress each year, it’s okay to say 'no' to the visit.
- All things in moderation. Doing too much, even of a good thing can cause stress. Plan ahead and don’t over extend yourself. It’s okay, and important to maintain a healthy balance between family bonding and alone time.
"I don’t have to look up my family tree, because I know that I’m the sap." Fred Allen