Family Holidays: Awesome or Awful?

The Holiday season is definitely upon us. Last week I spent eight days with my husband, sisters, parents, nieces and brother-in-law. Usually with a group this large there is bound to be tears and fights and a few unintended words exchanged but for the first time in our family's recent history, there were very few arguments and disagreements. How did we make it through you ask? Well, there were many factors working with us, here are a few:

1. Make one person in charge of planning. All you need is one cook in the kitchen.

2. Cruises are the bomb. With a group of ten, it's extremely easy to plan for meals, play time, nap time, snack time, etc. Renting a house can be fun but without the wonderful amenities like housekeeping, a chef and predetermined activities you might be adding more stress than is absolutely necessary.

3. Avoid controversial topics. Try not to discuss hot-button topics like why sister #3 is single or why sister #2 often makes an ass of herself after only 2 glasses of wine.

My peeps at Real Simple do a great job of spelling out a few ways to keep the peace. See my interpretation in italics :)

1. “Thank you for your opinion. I’ll think about it.” Instead of "Are you kidding me, that's a terrible idea"

2. “Is this a good time for you?” Instead of "You never make time for me and my needs"

3. “Would you like my thoughts?” Instead of "I think my insight would be extremely valuable since you obviously have none"

4. “Why don’t we get the facts?” Instead of "Obviously, you don't know what the hell you are talking about"

5. “I need your help. Can you please…?” Instead of "Get off your fat ass and help me"

6. “Let’s wait on this until we have more information.” Instead of "Again, you have no idea what you're talking about"

7. “I don’t like that, so why don’t we do this instead?” Instead of "Seriously, I'm right, you're wrong and I am always right"

8. “I’m sorry you’re upset.” Instead of "I told you so. You should have listened to me."

9. “Let me get back to you.” Instead of "I don't have time for this bull sh*t. I'll call you when I have more than 2 hours of free time."