(WQOW) - It's that time of the year, yes the holidays - but also maybe unwanted conversations with your family.
Whether it be vaccinations, masks, politics or drama, you name it, it's not always the best side to accompany your turkey, that's why the Eau Claire, WI Family Resource Center says to plan ahead.
Brian Doxsie, parent educator at Eau Claire Family Resource Center, said to set ground rules when planning your gathering on whether guests should be masked, or even vaccinated, so there aren't any surprises.
If topics drift towards unwanted subjects, remind guests to talk about it at a later date.
It also helps to have a list of activities for guests to participate in, so there's not much downtime for those tough, controversial conversations.
Doxsie advised to create space when possible.Â
"Another way to avoid these conversations is planning to have some of your own space," Doxsie said. "I know everyone loves to have all their visitors under one roof, but maybe in times of high stress like this maybe it's better to have a hotel or have some planned time where people have their own individual time and space where they can unwind and have these conversations apart from each other and kind of get things off their chest so to speak."
Doxsie said stress on the host or cook can also play a factor when striving for perfection during the holiday. To alleviate holiday stress, share the cooking duties or simply pick-up already prepared items from the store.
