Tag Archives: family gatherings

Tips For Gathering And Supporting Family

The month of December includes several holidays, including Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and Solstice. Many people enjoy gathering together to celebrate with members of their families during these holiday celebrations. For best results, follow these tips for gathering and supporting family members. Plan Gatherings Around The Most Vulnerable Family Members CNBC News reported advice from Dr. Katrine Wallace, an epidemiologist at the University of Illinois Chicago. Her number one piece of advice is to plan gatherings around the most vulnerable family members. Vulnerable communities include people who are immunocompromised, children, and elderly people. Dr. Wallace listed the following examples of how … Continue reading →

Ways To Gather With Family During December

There is something special about gathering with family during the holidays. Sharing time together can help build bonds between family members. Here are some simple things you can do to encourage family members to gather together during December. Attend a Religious Event Together Many families have a specific religion that they follow. Parents can bring their children to the building where the religious experience will take place. Doing so gives the children guidance that the parents want them to learn. When the children become adults, they might look forward to attending a religious event with their parents again. This is … Continue reading →

Holidays and Family Dysfunction

Twas the dinner of Christmas and all through the house everyone was stirring… while visions of food fights danced in their heads. If that pretty much sums up your family gatherings during the holiday season, then you might want to take a cue from Demi Moore and Bruce Willis. That’s right; the famously divorced Hollywood couple is now giving tips on how to avoid conflict during holiday get-togethers involving extended family. According to the actors, there is a way to co-exist with your dysfunctional family members minus the drama and fights. After all, they say, they do it on a … Continue reading →

Whoonu – Game Review

We hope that our holiday time with families will be filled with laughter and a sense of love and belonging. Sometimes though, there are too many age gaps between cousins for them to get along. Sometimes the grandparent and grandchild who only see each once a year feel shy with one another. If you need a perfect game for family get-togethers, Whoonu is it! Whoonu is a play on the phrase ‘Who Knew’. This game is from the inventive Cranium company. They recommend the game for ages eight and up. But anyone who can read can play this unique game. … Continue reading →

Coping with Christmas & Family Gatherings (3)

Hoping for a quick fix to solve all your family Christmas disasters? Well, sadly there are no quick fixes, particularly if you’re looking to change other people’s behaviors. The first and foremost rule of the counseling game is that it is very difficult to change other people, if at all. But you can change yourself. And therein lays your power. Let’s look at a scenario that might commonly occur around the Christmas dinner table. Mark’s father is a dentist. Among his many skills, he is an expert at holding onto grudges, and his biggest beef with Mark is that, although … Continue reading →

Coping with Christmas & Family Gatherings (2)

Popular magazines abound with tips on how to survive Christmas. You’ll notice that they mainly deal with the practicalities of food preparation and gift selection, even so far as to give you an “Advent-style” countdown from December 1 onwards telling you what task should be achieved on each particular day. Naturally, they stay well clear of the BIG issues — in short, the difficult issues. Today we’ll look at these very problems. How best to cope with a difficult parent, an impossible in-law, anger, rage, guilt (a biggie), and loneliness. And still have a Happy Christmas. 1. Take a leaf … Continue reading →

Coping with Christmas & Family Gatherings (1)

Christmas is a wonderful time of the year. Wonderful because it’s a time for catching up with family and friends. It’s also a “wonderful” time because we often “wonder” how on earth we are going to get through it. Sadly, Christmas can be the unhappiest time of the year for many people – either through family troubles coming to a head as members meet for the big day, or through the despair of having no family at all, and feeling desperately lonely. As much happiness as Christmas can bring, it is also a time of great stress, and this is … Continue reading →