From the couch

By KC Crouse · The Mainstream
Published November 22, 2010

Dear Couch,

It’s that time of the year again, let the stress begin. This year, like every year is a balancing act. It’s great to spend the holidays with family. However, it becomes difficult when you have to spend it with more than one family. Growing up it was never too hard, just merely attending holiday gatherings with the respective families of my mother and father. Now that I am an adult my parents have recently separated and the cohesion of scheduling has gone to the wayside.

I also have a significant other now as well and she too has a close family to gather with at holidays as well. Mix in time and driving distance spread through Douglas County and I worry that we’ll be spreading ourselves thin. I don’t even want to think of the difficulty that will come with a family of my own. So I ask, what should I do to make these holidays go smoothly?

Dear Family Man,

This problem is far from foreign for many people this holiday season. You could always try to be there for every single one but that can be difficult. I wouldn’t stress about it if I were you, and consider some of my suggestions.

Request some cooperation. If you can work with your family ahead of time, try to see if they would be willing to celebrate on different days, perhaps one family on Christmas Eve and the other on Christmas day.

Another option worth trying is a rotation. Spend each holiday with only one set of family and rotate who gets you for what holiday each year. “Family A” gets you for Thanksgiving while “Family B” gets you for Christmas, then the next year you switch.

If all else fails, blackmail them and make them come to you. If you hold some condemning information or perhaps even their gifts over their heads they’re bound to show up eventually. Sure, it may take some digging to get the information that’s provocative enough to get their attention, but in the end I’m sure it’ll be worth it.

When it comes down to it though, family is family and I’m sure that if you let them know the situation they’ll be perfectly fine with working to better it.