5 Ways to Ruin Your Family’s Thanksgiving
Have your family holiday gatherings been a bit too cheerful and harmonious for your taste?
Well, why not spice things up this year, and ruin Thanksgiving for your cherished loved ones.
Not sure how? Here are 5 ideas for ruining your family's Thanksgiving that should help:
1) Criticize the hard work and effort of anyone who cooked, cleaned, or otherwise contributed to putting together the Thanksgiving gathering.
Make sure that they understand that everything would have turned out A LOT nicer if you were in charge. Your expectations were not met and there’s no reason to keep that to yourself.
And if the turkey is too dry for your liking, just throw it across the room!
2) Wait for the most peaceful moment of Thanksgiving dinner, and ruin it by bringing up the recent election.
Loudly and swiftly hurl verbal attacks at anyone in the family who voted differently than you, disagrees with you, or dares to challenge your viewpoints.
3) Triangulate your favorite family member into any disagreements you’re having with another family member.
After all, why have just two family members fighting when you can bring in a third?!
Make it really awkward by forcing them to take a side and declare which one of you is “right” to be upset, then proceed to ignore any good advice they offer you on how to mend things.
4) Complain about all of the problems in your life and ignore all the reasons you have to be grateful.
Exaggerate the complaints a bit to make sure that any pity expressed at the dinner table goes to you, and you only. Do NOT let anyone in the family steal your role as the family victim.
5) Gossip about any family or friends who do not show up for the holiday dinner.
They're not there to defend themselves so don't miss the opportunity! Besides, everything they've said or done over the past few months has clearly been about you, and not showing up for Thanksgiving dinner is no exception.
As you gossip, make sure that everyone knows that they're absence is about you. There's no other logical explanation, right?
If these behaviors seem absurd, it’s because they are!
Most of us would agree that these aren’t acceptable or desirable situations to find ourselves in during family holiday time.
And yet, many of us do them every year without realizing how it's affecting everyone else around us. Make an effort to make this year different and avoid family stress for this holiday by focusing inward.
Remember, a little introspection can go a long way!
Use this list to check in with yourself. If any of these behaviors sound even remotely like you, do your family and friends a favor this year and try to avoid these.
And if any of these behaviors sound even remotely like your family members, remember that you can’t control anyone else’s behavior – only your own. So prepare yourself mentally and keep calm as best you can.
Also, acknowledge that this year is different and family conflict may be even more likely this holiday season after the recent election.
A recent poll found that a record high of 77% of Americans currently believe the nation is divided on our most important values. So family conflict this holiday may be even more likely than in years past!
Key decisions to make here:
- Decide now what kind of energy YOU want to bring to your family's holiday gathering and hold firm to that decision.
- Decide beforehand what conversation topics may not be a good idea to delve into if your goal is to avoid family conflict.
- Decide now to focus on the things for which you're grateful.
Need more ideas for avoiding family stress this holiday? Find more tips for Avoiding Family Conflict During The Holiday Season.
