babble » blogs » Strollerderby
Strollerderby
A Zen Approach to the Family Holiday
So you survived Thanksgiving with the family … give yourself a pat on the back. But don’t get too comfortable. By my watch, Christmas is approaching fast. There’s a reason we all overeat and over-drink during the holiday season: Too much together time.
If your family puts the fun in dysfunction, then you might actually look forward to the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. But if the thought of spending a day, or two, or three with your family makes you want to weep, you might benefit from these sanity-saving holiday tips from Carl Sheusi, zen master extraordinaire and psychologist who says that the reason why your parents are so good at pushing your buttons is because “they installed them.”
- Can’t convince your family that you really are a vegetarian? Sheusi says to consider the meal a loving gift and live by the philosophy, “I’m eatin’ what you’re cookin’.”
- Your brother can’t stop telling you what to do with your life? Turn the question back around and ask him what he can do to help.
- Once you walk in the front door you become 13 again. Go with it, says Sheusi. Just don’t hate yourself for it.
Surviving the holidays, then, seems to be a matter of giving everyone room to be themselves without taking things personally, and being grateful it all only comes around once a year.
Tell us how you look at the holidays: Do you look forward to happy chaos? Roll your eyes at your relatives’ idiosyncrasies? Or wish you could just fly somewhere warm until it’s all over?
More:
Woman Labors in Hospital Bathroom After Doctors Send Her Home
Dad Mad After Daughter’s Scar is Airbrushed from Photo
Bad Dad – Man in Jail After Locking Kids in Trunk for While He Went Shopping
Mom Sexted Naked Picture of Daughter’s Rival to Teachers
Two-Year-Old Recreates Taylor Swift’s VMA Performance
Go Back To Strollerderby
5 Comments
[...] about too much family time during the holidays? Take a zen approach, says [...]
PlanetKid » Fit Kids and Zen Holidays: Friday Finds commented on Dec 18 09 at 12:07 amAndrea Raisfeld commented on Dec 08 09 at 7:23 pmFor ideas on how our mixed religion family has approached Chanuka in a very pleasant way, please take a look at: http://aandbsee.blogspot.com/2009/12/chappy-chanuka-its-december-9-and.html
Maggie commented on Dec 09 09 at 4:59 pmComments
I usually like your stuff, so don’t take this personally. From my perspective, your advice to the vegetarian was all wet. A person who is ‘usually’ vegetarian or has only been eating vegetarian for a few months — especially if they are still eating dairy and eggs — may be able to eat the occasional meat dish. But someone who has eaten no animal products for several years can actually become quite ill; the gut has lost the enzymes needed to usefully digest meat, so it rots very slowly. This can actually cause enough gas to rupture the colon.
Better advice for the vegetarian if the cook just doesn’t get it? Eat the salad, and bring something for yourself so you won’t go hungry. You might even bring a delicious vegetarian entree as your contribution to the feast.
bethanysanders commented on Dec 09 09 at 5:06 pmHey Maggie, thanks! Our vegetarian readers will thank you. That’s not technically my advice (it’s Shuesi’s), but I didn’t realize that it could actually be harmful. I think his idea was that it’ll reduce your stress if you stop trying to convince your family that your lifestyle change is important to you, but your tip of taking your own veg dish to pass is a better one. Thanks for commenting!
Sarah commented on Dec 09 09 at 7:41 pmIt’s funny how I never hear people tell observant Jews that they shouldn’t bother keeping kosher if it’s impolite, but hear the same suggestion of vegetarians all the time.
Add your take:
Note: Babble is a supportive, diverse community. We encourage a range of opinions,
but any unduly hostile comments will be removed.
Comments are delayed up to 15 minutes
Joslyn Gray 
Amber Doty 
Julianna Miner 
Monica Bielanko 
Sierra Black 
Meredith Carroll 
Carolyn Castiglia 
Sunny Chanel 
Madeline Holler 
Wendy Michaels 
Rebecca Odes 
Danielle Smith 
Danielle Sullivan 
Katherine Stone 
The Walt Disney Company supports Babble as a platform dedicated to honest, engaged, informed, intelligent and open conversation about parenting. However, the opinions expressed on this site are those of individual parents/writers and do not reflect the views of Disney. In addition, content provided on this site is for entertainment or informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or safety advice.
5