As the holiday season continues, conversations with relatives become more and more frequent. Being a high schooler means that every interaction with relatives has the potential to be painful, and after about forty conversations relating to college, you can begin to lose interest in going to college all together. It takes every last piece of your self-restraint to avoid the temptation of screaming “I’M NOT GOING TO COLLEGE,” just so your relatives will leave you alone. While it may be hard to believe, there is a way to steer clear of that frustration, and perhaps even have a good time as well. Here is a guide to spending the holidays with family without pulling all your hair out.
The college front can be a difficult one to navigate, and it is important to remember that this conversation is under the title, “unavoidable,” and cannot be prevented. The best way to manage this discussion with the least amount of pain is by indicating one school that interests you above all others. Using this method, you can stay away from the interaction with your uncle where he explains that his alma mater has a phenomenal law school which can put you on the exact same path that he took. Thanks, but no thanks. By choosing one school, the only real question they can ask is what you are looking to study while there. It is still miserable, but not unbearable.
It is crucial to not enter the world of politics once you have made it beyond the world of college. The most important thing to remember is that no one will change their mind on political issues at the dinner table on Christmas Eve. Considering adult family members may also be drinking, it is wise to not stir up a deadly mixture of passion and alcohol that may result in the holidays becoming a lifelong memory for all the wrong reasons. While politics has always been a typically polarizing subject, all feelings and opinions have been magnified tenfold under this presidential administration.
While the holiday season has the potential to be torturous, it was intended to be a time when people could look forward to taking some time off in order to catch-up with family. With the correct precautions, this can be achieved. Catching-up does not have to be an activity where two people give a play by play breakdown of everything that has happened since the last time they saw each other. Instead, it can simply be a brief exchange of entertaining stories, much better than the alternative.
The tried and true method to family reunions is to talk about sports. There is a reason the National Basketball League (NBA) places an emphasis on their Christmas Day marketing. The NBA makes sure that all their most famous players are on the court, so it can appeal to a wide range of audiences. The combination of pop culture and live entertainment supplies non-stop conversation. For those that are interested in sports, talking about them is a dream scenario because, for many, it is just like a discussion you would have with your friends at the lunch table. Unfortunately, sports do not appeal to all, and can be yet another form of torture for those who could ordinarily do without them, so for those people, I would recommend removing yourself from those situations.
However, one of the best ways to handle the holiday season is with a fun board game. It creates some friendly competition, and depending on the game, can bring a plethora of laughs and joy. Whether it is a card game or a thinking game, both fulfill the objective of entertaining your family while defusing any built up tension. While it can be a difficult goal to achieve, placing this as a main point of focus this holiday season can be a game changer in the outcome of the gathering.
