Ryan ChartrandBy next week, you’ll be done with those awful finals, your books will be sold back and you’ll be making your way home for the holidays. You haven’t been back since Thanksgiving, which actually wasn’t that long ago.
Now that you think about it, Thanksgiving was actually kind of stressful. It was nothing compared to the finals you just took, but at home you won’t be able to see all your friends as often, if at all. You’re going to be stuck doing a lot of holiday “traditions” and chores with your family, depending on what holidays you’ll be celebrating. This sounds an awful lot like the setup for one of those family-friendly Christmas movies that are coming out right about now.
Spending time with your family should (hopefully) not be that bad, but there are always a few things they like to do over the holiday season that just aren’t your cup of tea. Personally, I got dragged across the border to Mexico on Black Friday. While my parents had a relatively good time, I was bored out of my mind and annoyed that I had to sit through the whole ordeal. It didn’t help that we got lost and my parents took to arguing in the front seat.
To avoid unsavory events such as this, plan ingenious ways to wriggle out of them, like plans with friends you haven’t seen since high school. If that doesn’t work, offer bribes. I’m not talking about money or anything, but perhaps suggest that if you’re going to cook half of the Christmas dinner, maybe your parents should let you go on a road trip to visit some friends upstate for a weekend. After all, you have about a month to spend time with nearly every family member within traveling distance.
But your parents have plans for you. If you can’t be convinced otherwise, they’ll just put you on a guilt trip. That’s right, the guilt trip. The bane of every child’s existence and the ultimate tool for parents to get what they want from you. What a vicious cycle.
But when your parents start guilt tripping you, what are you to do? Turn it back on them!
This is going to sound cruel to my parents, who will be reading this, but sometimes you just have to take a stand and make them feel a little guilty. At this point in your life, you’re an adult, and unless your presence is absolutely required, why can’t you say you don’t want to do something? Those friends from high school? That’s the only day you can see them all break long!
Of course, don’t forget that your family has probably missed you very much and they’re happy that you’re going to be with them for the break. There’s a fine line between not letting your family drag you everywhere this Christmas and hurting their feelings. After all, your family members are people too. Despite what your little sibling does to make you think they’re really from another planet.