As the holiday season is coming around I am pretty sure a lot of us will have tons of family gatherings to attend.
It’s the time of good food, shared laughter and reliving cherished memories.
The whole house looks pretty with decorations.
And the laughter and giggles coming from every room just makes the house so much livelier.
We finally get to meet our cousins, uncles and aunts with whom we do not get to meet every often.
While most of them bring us pure joy, some brings us uncomfortable questions that we would rather not answer.
All of us have that one aunt who at every gathering asks us the very questions that we dread. ‘How is your dating life?’,
‘When are you getting married’, ‘How much are you earning?’ are few very common ones.
As the questions roll the gathering with our much cherished family starts becoming a very torturous one.
So to not let that happen here are few tips to avoid uncomfortable questions at family gatherings.
Keep yourself busy
At a home where there are a bunch of people meeting after a long period of time, there is bound to be a lot of chores for the host family.
Keep yourself busy by helping your mother or grandmother or whoever is hosting by helping them with the chores.
It can be helping to chop up vegetables in kitchen or serving snacks to the guests, doing these chores will keep you busy and your nosy aunt won’t be able to sit you down and ask uncomfortable questions.
Excuse yourself and leave the room
Most of the time we already know who our nosy aunt is and the question she will be asking the moment initial greetings finish.
While not greeting them looks rude getting yourself involved in a lengthy conversation with them becomes exhausting.
So what you can do is make an excuse and leave the room as soon as the initial greetings are over.
Don’t give them a chance to even begin asking you the questions that you don’t want to answer.
Get yourself a sidekick
There is nothing worse than feeling like you are being ganged up on at your own family gathering.
To help you with such situation get yourself a sidekick. Is there a sibling or a cousin that you know you can count on?
Can your partner or best friend possibly join you for the holiday parties this year?
Or maybe drop a hint to your mom beforehand that she is in charge of keeping a certain topic of your life off-limits to everyone around.
I mean who could be a better side kick than your own mom.
Having someone that can help you answer questions that may be a bit tricky but having a buddy by your side to laugh it all off can be so helpful.
Major points if you and this person can exchange looks across the table and know exactly what the other is thinking!
Offer them entertainment that’s not your life
For a lot of people like me who hates answering very personal questions, conversations slimming down to my personal life are my biggest nightmares.
One very effective way to stop this from happening is planning fun games that will keep everyone busy.
Try bringing fun game boards or card games like Uno that will keep everyone entertained till late hours.
Or make a list of fun holiday movies to watch. Nothing brings a family together like a good movie does.
Plus, it will keep any attention off you and you can enjoy your holiday in peace.
Answer the questions without making any assumptions
In a lot of cases, a loved one may ask you a hurtful question completely unintentionally.
This can be a great opportunity for you to educate and inform your family and friends.
When the spotlight is on you, embrace the chance to share who you are.
Rather than jumping into conclusions and spend the rest of your dinner annoyed, try to fill them in on your current situation, beliefs, or dreams in an informative manner.
Who knows this could open new doors and offer a closer connection.
So what if they don’t quite understand what you do in your creative field, or how you make any money?
Try showing them samples of your work, or share some of the great experiences that you have had this year.
Remember, your loved ones care about you and probably just want to know more about what is going on in your life.
You can also read: https://www.wikye.com/what-does-self-care-look-like-when-you-have-extremely-busy-schedule/
