One thing I always find really challenging during the holidays is...[share with the community]

@Laura dealing with anxiety

This year will be particularly complicated since I became a vegan and I know I'll get harassed for it if I go to family meetings. I dont deal well with that, Im so scared I make a fool of myself for starting to cry or have a meltdown over this.

i always find it hard because I have to pretend to be happy and fine and hide my sexuality from my family

Socializing. At least this year. There's not much for for me to talk about, and a lot of things I really don't want to talk about because of the negative memories that trigger my anxiety and depression. So I am not sure how to handle tomorrow without wanting to burn through a whole pack of cigarettes, especially when I am trying to quit.

Spending the Holidays alone

Being single. I have not been with a woman for years.

Not to get into a fight with my mom / not to feel like an utter failure in the eyes of my family

Background story, tl:dr, my family is weird: dad's an atheist from Jewish background, mom's a catholic but doesn't practice --> no Xmas, no Hanukkah, just stressful dinner where you could cut the tension with a knife. My mom is extra stressed to make a perfect dinner and that she has to smile and pretend that this is great, my grandma is impatient to get picked up by my dad by car and come to my parents' house, so she keeps calling us every 20 minutes which makes everyone even more nervous. My dad takes forever to get ready and finally go get my grandma. I try to help with cleaning/cooking but I can't do anything right for them, so I just try to be invisible. My parents usually start screaming at each other becuase my grandma keeps calling my mom about why my dad is so late. I think this would make a hilarious scene in a comedy actually. Eventually, after everyone gets offended at everyone we all make up to each other and give presents. We all prefer giving to getting becuase it's more exciting to see the other persons reaction, but the truth is all of us prefers to get money instead of stuff, so typical presents in my family are envelopes with money in it and books that we actually wanna read ourselves, so immediately after presenting them we ask if we could borrow them and finish reading them first:)

Actually I really love my family, as crazy as we are❤️

Listening to my mom yell at my dad for not buying her or anyone else any gifts.

I remember the one thanksgiving when I begged my oldest son to come to my mom's house for the holiday. He had a school project due several days later. I told him I would help him with it as much as he needed the next day, and the entire weekend. He is autistic, so you cannot always reason with him. He has his mind made up and that is that as the saying goes. I begged, and begged. It was the holiday, and it was his grandma who adored him.My youngest was a lost cause. I knew he wouldnt come with me. I didnt ask. I was at the verge of a break up with my now ex. It was also a way to 'get' my now ex that he wouldnt have the children (or one child) for the holiday. I really wanted my now ex to suffer. He had brainwashed the boys. It was a lost cause. I drove a half hour to my mom's house just sobbing. It was thanksgiving and I didnt have my children.

Now it has been over a decade since I saw my oldest, maybe 2 years since I saw the youngest. My mom is gone. Thanksgiving sucks. Thank god I have my current husband.

I find it hard to have small talk all the time with relatives during Thanksgiving and I never quite know how to act around my family. I feel like I'm walking on a tightrope while being strangled by a demented monkey sometimes.