The holidays can be a very stressful time for a myriad of reasons. Work deadlines, trying to get time off, making it to all of your holiday engagements and parties, and buying gifts for family and friends and hoping they get shipped in time even though you waited until five days before Christmas to do so – we get it, things can get a little overwhelming. However, nothing can be more daunting than heading home for the holidays.

Even if you have a great relationship with your parents and/or family members, spending an extended amount of time with your family as a grown-ass adult can be trying. Thankfully, we’ve put together this list of tips that are essential for surviving the holidays with your family, so if you’re seriously stressing about having to engage in conversation with that weird family friend who stares at you a little too long, fear not: here’s how to spend Christmas with your family and survive.

1. Keep Conversations Light

The first cardinal rule of surviving the holidays with your family is to keep the conversation light. If you have to sit across the table from your aunts and uncles who use Facebook memes as their primary sources of news, try talking about surface level topics, like where they got their Christmas sweater or if they’ve seen any good movies lately. 

2. Offer To Run Any and All Errands

An easy way to both get along with and avoid your family at the same time is to run errands for whoever needs something – it’s a great way to get out of the house and grab a moment to yourself. Whether your mom forgot something at the grocery store, your dad needs another string of lights because the house isn’t quite up to Clark Griswold’s standards, or your grandma needs to refill her prescription, you can typically take as much time as you need to complete these tasks, and even use excuses like “traffic was crazy” or “the lines were out the door” to get away from the house longer.