The holidays are fully upon us! In Canada we have already celebrated Thanksgiving, but in the USA Thanksgiving festivities are in fully swing this weekend. Even if you don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, Black Friday is often the reminder that the holiday season has started. The holidays can be extremely stressful for many people. Now add on top of that having a chronic illness and/or disability and the season can seem impossible. Here are some strategies that can help us all out during the holidays.

Try to reduce how prevalent food is in your celebrations. Many people with food allergies/intolerances/specialized diets struggle with eating at other people’s houses. So if we remove food as the central tenant of the celebration that will reduce a lot of stress. No way to get out of eating? Bring your own food or enlist an ally to talk to the host on your behalf to ensure there is something you can eat. On the flip side, if you are the host and someone needs to bring their own food, don’t make a big deal about it and help them to feel comfortable with their situation.

Make your celebration in the afternoon instead of the evening. Many people with chronic illness/disability struggle with fatigue, so moving the celebrations earlier can have a huge impact on their enjoyment.

Be flexible. Flares happen and it isn’t the fault of the chronically ill/disabled person.

Find a comfortable place to sit as this can increase your length of stay. If people offer you the softest chair and the best pillow, take it! Also, bringing your own pillow to sit/lean on is also a good idea.

Do not feel like you need to hand-make the hostess gift! It is 100% okay to buy something and take it along. This also is true for potlucks, it is perfectly acceptable to buy your item and not make it yourself!

It is acceptable to leave when you are tired. If you find this hard to do, enlist an ally to help you leave when you need to and to make sure that you don’t feel stuck in the situation longer than you can manage.

And remember, you are enough! Be you, you are awesome.