Dear V,

I really don’t get along with my family at all, and holidays tend to be really rough for me. It’s kind of hard for me to think about having to spend a month of the vacation with them. There really isn’t one reason why we don’t get along, it’s more like our personalities don’t mesh very well. Well, actually, everyone else seems to get along really well, but I just don’t get along very well with them. I like them all a lot, but what usually happens is that the first day or two is fine, and then the rest of the time I’m at home is just a complete disaster. More or less, I just can’t seem to get along with my parents. They just don’t seem to understand that I spend most of my time living on my own, and when they try to impose their rules on me (like a curfew), I just kind of go ballistic on them, and that’s usually how everything starts to go downhill. Do you have any advice on how I can make my vacation at home scream-free? I would really like to try to live in peace for once!

Dear Reader,

I think that many young adults can sympathize with your problem. It is very difficult to live your life one way for most of the year, and then have to adjust your living style when you move back in with your parents. I’m sure that you’ve also been fed some kind of lame-o speech about their rules being the only set of rules underneath their roof, yada, yada, yada. The unfortunate thing is that they make a decent point.

I am very much of the opinion that it’s better to get along with your parents than it is to not get along with your parents. I’m pretty sure that your parents have done quite a bit to help you out over the years. At the very least, they did give birth to you, which, hopefully, you consider to be a good thing. At any rate, I think that you should try your very hardest to play the role of peacekeeper when you’re at home, especially considering that the winter holiday is one of the only times of the year that you get to spend with your family. True, I think that it’s a good idea to assertively express (not argue) for your “freedom” while you are home, but if your parents don’t budge, then I think it best to suck it up. For all you know, you may be the one who is the acquired taste, not them.

Best of Luck!
V.

Fact O’ the Day…Human beings are the only animals who can cry for emotional reasons and who can use their tears for the purpose of emotional manipulation…

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