holidaze

For all the talk about Americans being pro-family, there sure is a lot of animosity among kinfolk during the holiday season.

My immediate family doesn't have too much of this issue, although every year there's a bidding war about who will host turkey day, who is welcome and who is deliberately uninvited. My father likes to ice out my in-laws and make the day just about the Mohseni Clan. That's all good and well but we grow sick of each other in about two hours.

My grandparents are the tribeless lot, each year bounced from one offspring's house to the next. They require extra special care, including being fed and led to their car to drive home before its dark, so very few family want to deal with that. It's been a few years since they've been at my parents and I'm sure others will soon notice.

My good friend hates her step father, so she arrives just a few minutes before the family eats and then makes up a story about not feeling well. I don't know why they haven't caught on that she uses the same excuse every year.

My other friend has to drive 40 minutes to be with her family, then two hours to her husband's family, because the families hate each other. She is emotionally drained for the rest of the week and swears she will never do this again.

So much for being grateful for family...