{"id":10189,"date":"2020-11-16T15:58:46","date_gmt":"2020-11-16T20:58:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/?p=10189"},"modified":"2025-02-25T12:06:22","modified_gmt":"2025-02-25T17:06:22","slug":"conversation-tips-for-the-holiday-table","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/cnh\/resources\/news-library\/conversation-tips-for-the-holiday-table\/","title":{"rendered":"CONVERSATION TIPS FOR THE HOLIDAY TABLE"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Even though the holidays may look different this year due to COVID-19, they can still be a time for celebration. As you approach holiday table conversations, please remember that 2020 has been an emotionally intense and overwhelming year for many. So, whether your family celebrations take place in person or virtually, it&#8217;s quite possible that divisive topics are on people\u2019s minds. Emotionally charged discussions often make the atmosphere tense and can cause rifts with those we\u2019re close to.<\/p>\n<h6><strong>HERE ARE SOME TIPS TO AVOID HEATED DISCUSSIONS AND KEEP THE HOLIDAY CONVERSATION CIVIL.<\/strong><\/h6>\n<ul>\n<li>Try not to go into a family gathering or Zoom call ready to battle. After all, that\u2019s not the reason for coming together, and minds are unlikely to be changed in heated discussion.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You may have strong feelings about certain topics and be inclined to air them, but understand that the momentary satisfaction of doing so might come at the cost of an otherwise pleasant day. It\u2019s ok to put big topics aside for a day and allow others some grace.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Check your motivations for engaging in an exchange. Do you want to connect with someone? Or do you want to \u201cwin\u201d? Combative conversations tend to cause people to become even further entrenched in their beliefs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Instead, try entering a discussion with the intention of learning. Why does someone feel the way they do? Why is a certain topic important to them? A curious approach facilitates understanding.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>When sharing your own viewpoint, offer a story that illustrates why you feel a certain way about a position or topic. Use \u201cI\u201d statements to explain how you\u2019ve come to hold your opinions.<\/li>\n<li>Avoid statistics. Everyone has their own set to suit their purposes.<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t generalize, and don\u2019t assume that just because someone feels a certain way about topic A, you automatically know their stance on topics B, C, and D.<\/li>\n<li>Never belittle.<\/li>\n<li>If you know ahead of time there are people who like to bring up contentious issues, have a strategy to steer the conversation away. It\u2019s okay to have boundaries around topics that make you uncomfortable. If someone brings up politics and you don\u2019t wish to engage, you can try \u201cIt sure is an interesting time in our country.\u201d If they persist, you might try \u201cI appreciate your passion, but it seems like this could lead to disagreement. Could we talk about something else?\u201d or \u201cI\u2019d much rather hear about how your kids are doing.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You can also listen to<a href=\"https:\/\/www.familiesfirstindiana.org\/podcast\"><em>\u00a0Keeping Politics in Perspective, on The Family Table Podcast,<\/em><\/a>\u00a0for tips on talking and setting boundaries around political conversations.<\/p>\n<p>View the holidays as an opportunity to explore kindness and empathy, not \u201cdig into the trenches,\u201d and you might begin to relieve some of your holiday stress.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Even though the holidays may look different this year due to COVID-19, they can still be a time for celebration. As you approach holiday table conversations, please remember that 2020 has been an emotionally intense and overwhelming year for many. So, whether your family celebrations take place in person or virtually, it&#8217;s quite possible that divisive topics are on people\u2019s minds. Emotionally charged discussions often make the atmosphere tense and can cause rifts with those we\u2019re close to. <\/p>","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family-childhood-development"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>CONVERSATION TIPS FOR THE HOLIDAY TABLE - Firefly Children and Family Alliance<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/cnh\/resources\/news-library\/conversation-tips-for-the-holiday-table\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"CONVERSATION TIPS FOR THE HOLIDAY TABLE - Firefly Children and Family Alliance\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Even though the holidays may look different this year due to COVID-19, they can still be a time for celebration. 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