Holidays…when we gather with family for fun times and a nice meal. Where we strengthen family ties and catch up on everyone's life--Yeah, right. More on that in a minute.
First, congratulations to Lily--our October HAR blog winner! Lily, please contact the following authors through their websites to claim your prize: Shelley Galloway, Cindi Myers and Marin Thomas.
Keep the comments coming. Authors will be giving away more books to a winner for the month of November.
Okay, back to Holidays--the good, the bad and the ugly….
More likely than not, many of us will attend gatherings with people we have little or nothing in common--Family. You got that right. How is it that siblings can be born to the same parents yet be so different? Sister Susie-homemaker bakes up storm and everyone praises her cooking skills. Sister Margaret is Ms. Career Woman who travels the world and makes more money than your own husband. Then Brother Bob slides through life effortlessly, always finding people to fish him out of trouble or loan him money when he makes bad choices. And then there's you--Ms. Responsibility--the one who goes through life playing by the rules but no one cares or finds you interesting. Sound familiar to anyone???
I thought it might be fun to make up a list of tips on surviving the holidays with family. I'll go first:
1) Lower your expectations (I'm talking way lower). The day is not going to be perfect. It never has been and it won’t be this time. Uncle Joe will still tell off-color jokes and your father-in-law will undoubtedly bring up politics at the dinner table. And don’t forget Aunt Judy, she'll have one too many drinks and spill her red wine all over your white tablecloth. Just think…if no one sets the Christmas tree on fire the gathering will have been a success!
Okay, who's got the next Holiday survival tip?
Marin Thomas
For The Children (Oct 07)
In A Soldier's Arms (Feb 08)
5 comments:
*Always make sure there's plenty of alcohol---just kidding--LOL!
*I mean, try to remember how sane, yet boring the holidays would be without family.
Take a some time to unwind, schedule it. Just relax at home with the family, watch tv specials together and just enjoy some together time.
Jennifer
You're right...if everything was perfect we'd still find something to complain about. Speaking of alcohol...I remember one Christmas my mother made her "famous meatlballs" and they were eaten within a half-hour of the crockpot being put on the table. Found out years later she'd spiked them with rum!
Brethe--great idea to find some alone time with one's immediate family--kind of a team building thing before you go into battle!
Marin
For The Children (Oct 07)
www.marinthomas.com
Thank you so much... I just e-mailed...
It is hard though to lower your expectations!
There's just toooo much to do for Christmas so I make Christmas Eve dinner before candlelight service and I don't cook on Christmas Day. We spend the majority of the morning opening gifts one at a time. Clean up and then take our covered dish to the relatives for supper. Actually, it's one of our least stressful holidays since we don't try to do too much and our family is very laid back. Thank goodness.
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