Fall and winter are by far the best times of the year. Cozy sweaters, Christmas cookies, and celebrations are calling my name! But with each of these great holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, etc.), there comes a unique set of struggles. We know our family members usually have the best intentions, but arguments around the dinner table are bound to ensue when dealing with crazy uncles and nosy grandparents. Here are just a few of the struggles we all face around the holidays –
1. Intrusive questions from well-intentioned family members:
“So what are your career goals?”, “Do you have a boyfriend?”, “What do you plan to do with that major?”, “What are you going to do after graduation?”
To help keep your sanity, come up with a prepared set of answers to these stock questions we all know will come up:Yes. / No. / I don’t know. / Honestly, I’d rather be watching the latest episode of Grey’s Anatomy right now.
It’s frustrating when you don’t know the answers to these questions yourself, but just remember, most of us don’t have it totally figured out!
2. Offensive comments from not-so-well-intentioned family members:
It is common knowledge that older generations are generally less accepting of most things than us young adults and students. Just look at what an uphill battle it’s been over the past fifty years or so for different races and sexualities to get basic rights in America, and we still have a long way to go. By this point, the racist/sexist generations should know that they are on the losing side. #Equality!
3. Being under Mom and Dad’s roof again:
Ah, the age-old adage, “My house, my rules.” Coming home from college for extended periods of time can be hard, especially when you’re used to living on your own and being on your own schedule. Hopefully Mom and Dad don’t reinstate your curfew, or get angry when your room isn’t clean… Or, maybe you’ve grown enough as an adult at college that you can appreciate and understand that their rules come from a place of love. Either way, it’s still frustrating.
4. FOMO when your friends are back on campus already:
For example, I’ll be missing one of UO’s biggest rivalry games this weekend – the Civil War game with Oregon vs. OSU – and I am SUPER bummed about it. Remind me to stay off of Instagram and Snapchat for a few days after…
5. The hassles of traveling:
To get home for Thanksgiving, I had to take a bus, a plane, and an hour car ride just to get from my campus to my house. People have to trek through the rain, snow, hail, and sleet, on trains, planes, cars, and buses just to spend a weekend at home. It’s a long, tiring process. Especially when you would much rather be in bed watching Netflix instead of cramped on a tiny airplane seat.
But, even with all of these struggles, we wouldn’t trade our quality time with family for the world. Happy holidays!