Upcoming holiday gatherings...

[Fridgemagnetman]

Well at least you will be avoiding black friday.....

Or you could escape and say you're queuing overnight to be first in line for the best bargains....

 

[Suzanne]

May I ask do you celebrate the feasts of the Lord ?such as pass over ,Succoth,Hanukkah -A lot of Christians celebrate them now as we realise the bible never said not to , it just said we would not be stuck in dead religion.

Of course you can ask just celebrate the memorial of his death, that he instituted. The world replaces it with easter, but we stick to what Jesus said to celebrate

 

[vangelis]

Big social/family gatherings are a nightmare and I avoid them as much as possible. I need to be doing things rather than mindlessly chatting and tend to do things like walk their dogs or go look in the garden/library, anything to get away. Even as a kid certain uncles/aunts realised I was uneasy at these kind of events and often used to take me out for walks.

I don't get the idea of seeing family "because it's Christmas" if you want to see them well just see them whenever why use an excuse? If there's more than two or three people around I tend to go into my shell, maybe do crosswords or puzzles in books or on my phone/3DS - I'm lucky that the family accept how I am without necessarily liking it. One Christmas morning I even spent mending a neighbours fence that had blown down as this to me was a better option than socializing. I drive a two seater car for much the same reason because it just gets you out of doing so much cr*p for other people, being their personal taxi etc.

 

[Fridgemagnetman]

drive a two seater car for much the same reason because it just gets you out of doing so much cr*p for other people, being their personal taxi etc.

That's a prize winner

 

[Katleya]

At the very worst, in real time, :

Imagine the people's heads are oranges. Swapping from head to head moved by an invisible hand...

The orange meditation only works if you don't tell people
Other fruits are also available.

Sounds like a tough gig, remember, if an orange started to diss you, you wouldn't get upset. It's just an orange.

But... just want to make sure, you're not telling him to juggle with those oranges, are you?

Next year's holiday season: ASPIES.. IN.. SPAAAAACE!
Now that would be an excuse for skipping Thanksgiving dinner

You mean, like the pigs on the Muppet Show, or is this just me?

I don't have much advice to offer.
There used to be one major family gathering, but that ended after my grandparents passed away, so it's bittersweet; I'm relieved I don't have to suffer through the gathering anymore, but I also miss it very much (because I miss seeing my grandparents, definitely not because I miss the gathering).
As for Thanksgiving, since it's just my parents & I in our area, we're pretty inconsistent with it, but we're not too big on celebrating it due to the same lineage issues that you mentioned. Besides, the only dish the 3 of us can agree on is the mashed potatoes, with my mother claiming cranberries smell like cat pee and hating turkey, my father not being a fan of greens, and me preferring a candied ham, but you can't get proper ham either here. Surely we won't organize a feast of mashed potatoes? (on which we probably wouldn't agree either, I can see the divide between 'peeled potatoes, with just cream & milk' vs. 'unpeeled potatoes with garlic' from here). But hey, we're that family who would get into arguments in the middle of church on Christmas Eve, so that is very typical of us (and not as bad as it seems).

 

[Bolletje]

@Katleya I was 100% referring to the Muppets. Well done.

 

[LucyPurrs]

Chance you have my sympathy- I also hate these gatherings and I'm an NT. The noise and crowds get to me. Also, the requirement to engage in meaningless talk with people I don't normally associate with.
Thinking maybe your dog will give you an excuse to escape periodically- to walk her especially if she's in your car. Since you're driving maybe you can say you have to leave early because you promised yourself you would spend some time doing something on your days off? Life is short- don't torture yourself needlessly.