Dear Destiny,
I am nervous because the holidays are around the corner and my family always feels like I spend too much time with my friends and not enough time with them. I don’t feel this is true and I really enjoy spending my free time with my friends. What should I do?
Sincerely,
Worried Socializer
Dear Worried Socializer,
I totally get you! I understand where you are coming from. I suggest you even your load out between friends and family. Spending time with your friends and family needs balance. But how would you do that? It really depends on the way you would like to approach it. I’ll give you some suggestions but it is really up to you.
Firstly, spend time with your family on weekdays and friends on weekends. This is what I usually do as my friends are almost always too busy with their own work to hang out, but my family is closely available. But when weekends roll around your friends will hopefully be free to hang out. So it is a win-win situation. Your family gets their time with you on weekdays and your friends get time with you on the weekends.
Secondly, if you have time during the week, you could flip-flop weeks with your friends and family. One week could be for friends, the next for family or vice-versa. This could give you even more time to plan for hangouts. But do make sure all school work is completely before hanging out, your academics should come before anything else.
But another thing that could be tricky is holidays. Obviously the best option is to spend time with your family for these holidays, but you could also have ways to get togethers with friends on other days. But if your family or friend’s family is accepting of it, you can spend holidays with each other and their family.
Lots of love,
Destiny
