As Thanksgiving and the holiday season quickly approaches, many of you are probably like me, and spend much of the time with your family and relatives. While it is great to see your family, it can sometimes be very difficult to get along with them, especially after spending day after day with them stuck indoors because of the harsh, North Dakota winter.  

You might be dreading these interactions and wondering how you might be able to skip out of that “quality family time” a.k.a. arguments between cousins and that one family member that no one seems to know. Luckily for you, I am here to give you the best tips to help you in these difficult times.

         Tip #1: The easiest way to avoid any family conflict is to flat out stay away from them. You don’t have to avoid them the entire time but maybe just one out of the five days that they are here to give yourself a little space. Some ways that you can avoid them include: faking an illness, throwing a temper tantrum, show up for a few minutes and then getting “called” into work, or moving far away so you aren’t obligated to come because the “economy sucks” and plane tickets are too expensive. But don’t feel constrained to just these excuses, the sky’s the limit so get creative and get yourself some good old rest and relaxation. I must say, one potential problem with this method is that it does make you look very lame and not very grateful for your family. But fear not, if this is not a viable option for you, there are other ways to avoid your family!

         Most times when you’re a high school student, you don’t have as much liberty to leave such family events. So here is the solution. Tip #2: Escape any type of awkward or argumentative situations at all costs. This includes, but is not limited to, politics, sports, and the Kardashians. These situations are the ones that seem to ruin your time with your family, so, avoid them. You can do this by escaping whenever the conversation tends to go south. Some easy ways to escape the conversation include becoming “constipated” and spending way too much time in the bathroom when you’re really just sitting on your phone. You could also go play with your younger cousin; an added bonus is that your cousin would greatly appreciate the attention. Lastly my favorite option, “school work”. No family member will want to get in the way of your academic work. If you use these things, it’s important not to do them for too long or often as it will blow your cover and then you will be trapped.

         This last tip is very important. Tip #3: Plan all responses ahead of time. Now you can’t predict what everyone is going to say but you can predict the obvious ones like “what are your plans for next year” or “look how big you’ve gotten” by having a pre-planned response that gives you a significant advantage and can dictate what direction the conversation goes. That way, you can limit how long the conversation is and avoid getting a lecture from Uncle Bill for not having your entire life planned out.

         It is very important not to take any of these tips to extremes for it will make you a bad person. Time with family and friends is special, even if it is sometimes painful. However, if you can’t avoid your family for long enough, remember that the next holiday season is an entire year away.