With the holiday season in full swing, so are the gatherings with friends and family. Tessa Hobbs-Curley, Family Life Educator with the University of Illinois Extension, shares some tips for navigating relationships during the holiday season, starting with stress management.
“The one thing that we can control is how we act and how we behave. We tell people to be honest, but also to respect. I think a lot of times that we lose that, we’re overwhelmed—but again, we can control our behavior, how we treat somebody,” shares Hobbs-Curley. “If somebody is being rude or disrespectful to us, it is one of those things that we can say, ‘ouch, that was kind of biting,’ or ‘that kind of hurt.’ It’s important that we also kind of educate people if we feel like they’re being rude or insensitive to something.”
Hobbs-Curley adds another holiday relationship stressor that comes up during gatherings is navigating different discussion topics.
“That’s where you can remove yourself from the room, or maybe you turn on some happy tunes,” adds Hobbs-Curley. “Maybe that’s when you choose to join the kid table for a little bit to make sure everybody is having a good time. But it is important that we can change topics too.”
Ultimately, she says the key to enjoying the holidays is being aware of your own needs and those of those around you.
