In-Law Insanity... Holiday Style

For many it's a season of gathering with family and visiting relatives both far and near. But what if your family's holiday style is more like sabotage than holly and jolly? Well, I can tell you that you're not alone, especially when it comes to the topic of celebrating with the in-laws. Whatever the reason, relationships with the in-laws tend to skew to tension and mistrust -- things that seem to be magnified during the holidays.

On the Dealing with In-Laws message board, ariannasmommy2007 asks, "What is your strategy for coping with your in-laws during the holidays?" She offers her own ideas and gets some interesting replies:

"When I am spending time with my IL"s, my current strategy is to try to deal with their unacceptable behaviors and passive aggressive comments myself and not putting DH in the middle." -- ariannasmommy2007

"We are planning on arriving at the holiday gatherings ready to leave. As soon as things go south we are out of there." -- robingirl35

"We rarely drink and never at family parties (and they love to comment on it, to us, to the kids)  as they are a bunch of boozers and in the past there have been fights (physical) between the others, but we have always managed to get out of there before trouble starts." -- mrs.megsmom

Yowza!

Even if you're on good terms with your family (including your in-laws!), orchestrating a packed holiday schedule that includes everyone is challenging, at best.

"This is the first Christmas that my husband and I have been married for and we're not sure how to split the time between our two families. Both sides live close enough that we have to see them, which is fine, but we're not sure how to do it." -- kmartella12

Are you looking forward to time with your in-laws for the holidays or are you dreading the duty? How do you ensure that everyone has a good time -- or do you just avoid the situation altogether? Share your helpful tips -- or your horror stories -- with us.