Christmas is a great time for family reunions, even more if you live abroad like me – it is probably the one time a year everyone is gathered together, right!

And we know big family gathering can be fun, but they can also be stressful – wish me luck i am spending a full week with my family this year – hopefully it will go well.

Drama, big loud personalities. – we all have those in our families, in mine we’re all loud, dramatic & and like to give unsolitated opinions!

Now no matter what we’re family, and we love each other right!?

There’s always ways to handle these type of situations, below are a few of my ‘techniques’:

1. Do not use the holiday season to bring up OLD ‘scars’ this is NOT the time to fix it – everyone’s emotions are running high (the stress of getting the gifts, the stress of traveling to be with you families, hosting, cooking & keeping everyone happy) keep it light if possible
2. Set yourself some expectations – Don’t expect miracles, people do not change – most don’t
3. Put the ‘FUN’ in disfunctional – most family has their fair share of crazy – just have fun with it
4. Focus on the happy moments
5. Control what you can control
6. Try not to sit next to that 1 family member that annoys you the most
7. Practice self-care – try ot detach yourself from anything that might stress you out – control what you can control
8. Establish “healthy” boundaries for yourself: It’s OK to say “no.”
9. Focus on the kids – they are normally the ones having the most fun
10. Take any comments with humor
11. Moderation – we all eat and drink too much – and when we do things have a tendency to get out of hands

I hope these tips will help you get through it, I know it is easier said than done – But you can always try one of 2 & see how effective they are.

Happy holidays all!