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How To Survive Thanksgiving With Relatives

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Cincinnati chapter.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…almost. Many of us seem to skip Thanksgiving altogether and head straight to Christmas. We need to slow down and celebrate this amazing holiday- its sole basis is food! The bearers of this amazing food though usually happen to be our loving extended relatives…. Yay. You know, the ones who herd in every year and seem to make your house feel 10x smaller.

Yes, we do love our extended family, we really do… but sometimes it just becomes unbearable. Understandable. Coming home from total freedom in college to being expected to follow rules is totally absurd! First, you’re dealing with your parents trying to enforce rules you haven’t heard in months, and now you’re dealing with your nosy extended family… not to mention the endless questions:

How’s college? Do you get any sleep? Do you have a lot of homework? Do you have a boyfriend? Who are your friends? WHAT’S YOUR MAJOR? *Insert some sort of personal opinion or criticism*

Here’s a few tips on how to deal with being home for Thanksgiving:

1. Change the subject when asked, “so do you have a boyfriend now?” or any other of the 1,000 annoying questions you will be asked.

2. Find some time to be alone. Say you need to study, walk your dog, go for a run or just run as fast as you can…

3. Try to turn the conversation to them and their lives. People love to talk about themselves, especially older people to younger people- they will never miss a chance to give you advice.

4. Voluntarily talk about yourself or your siblings so much that they don’t even want you to talk anymore.

5. Remember that they truly do love you and just try to make the best of it! Remember, they brought you mashed potatoes and loads of totally necessary carbs.

As they are finally pulling out of your driveway, as you are waving good-bye, remember you will see them again in 1 month for Christmas!