As each one of us has experienced the Thanksgiving that has passed in our own way. Maybe with tasty turkeys, delicious desserts and a big side helping of awkward family tension. With Christmas coming up, people ask, is there any way to deal with the family drama that is sure to ensue?

For each family, there are different types of situations that can occur that make a person squirm in their seat, for example, sophomore Maggie Nishan describes her Thanksgiving dinner. ¨My grandmother and grandfather are divorced, so they don’t really like being together. It was kind of funny cause they had to spend the entire day together.” When followed up with the question, ¨What do you mean by funny¨, she responded with ¨There was nothing I could do about it, so I just watched and I laughed.¨  

In a position like Maggie´s there is nothing else a person really can do then to just laugh it off, and try not to let it ruin the day of your family being together, but it is not always the case that you can just ¨laugh it off¨.

Freshman *Hannah also had some crazy family discussions recently at a Christmas party, “I am not sure how it happened but politics was one of the topics that came up in conversation. My family is pretty laid back, but out of nowhere my uncle started on a rant about how ‘Trump should be the next President!’ and I was shocked at first when it happened, especially since I assumed my family was all just irish democratic middle class, which they are, except for this Trump-loving uncle.So when he started going on about “puttin’ up walls!” and “being against gun control!”, it’s safe to say my family when bezerk. My family loves a good fight, but this had turned into a full fledged brawl. The only thing that my family loves more than a good a fight though, is alcohol, thank gosh for the Irish. So when in doubt, break out the good scotch.”  For Hannah, the best that she could do was wait it out, and hope for the best. Sometimes these situations will fix themselves.

Mrs. Ducolon, a senior English teacher, has had some awkward table talk as well. “ So the first holiday that I spent with my in-laws before i got married my father in law decided to tell us jokes and stories related to his job…..he’s a gynecologist.”

As for the Christmas season that is soon approaching, is there a way to escape the awful moments of silence, and inevitable embarrassing moments? Such as getting underwear from your grandmother that was given to you in front of your whole family, or drawing a blank of the name of someone you think you’re related to?

Unfortunately, life is filled with awkward moments that we can’t escape. So hold your head high while it is redder than a tomato, and laugh off as much as you can, because it won’t last forever, and hopefully that montro will get you through the worst of it.

*All names for this article have been changed if asked.