- Obligation to buy gifts
- Pressure to spend money
- Crass materialism that takes away from the meaning of the season
- Pressure to go to family get-togethers or company parties
- Being forced to be around people they want nothing to do with the rest of the year
- Painful reminders of people who have passed away
- Dealing with unpleasant ex-spouses and the challenge of merging blended families
- Avoid making them join in all the reindeer games – make sure your invitation to the party or the family gathering comes with a no-guilt clause if they don’t show
- Acknowledge their feelings- their displeasure has a reason. Find out what that reason is, and you’ll make a friend
- Don’t call them Scrooge – or say, “Bah, Humbug”
- Ask about things they’d rather do this time of year than get caught in all the trappings of the season
- Ask them what their favorite time of the year is and why
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