Holiday - Haiti Observer Blog

Extended family relations around the holidays can become an occasion for unpleasant interactions.

Social gatherings for Thanksgiving, holiday parties, Christmas and New Year's Day dinners, can force you into uncomfortable face-offs with some members of the family. Here are some guidelines to help you deal with annoying--sometimes to the extreme--relatives.

• Be polite and respectful. Remind yourself this is the only occasion you need to see them on. You can pleasantly tolerate their presence for a few short hours.

• If you find it impossible to have a pleasant conversation, avoid them. Make your hellos and goodbyes civil though.

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It is a tradition in the United States to celebrate Thanksgiving Day every fourth Thursday of November.

Americans have been celebrating Thanksgiving since time immemorial. It is said that the first ever Thanksgiving was marked in 1598 in the Texas city of El Paso but most people believe that the event is held to remember the Pilgrim's harvest celebration in Plymouth, Massachusetts 391 years ago. Thanksgiving was not considered a national holiday until first US President George Washington proclaimed it in 1789.

The main reason why Americans hold Thanksgiving Day is to express their gratitude for everything they have. This is the time of the year when they can celebrate with their friends and family. Usually, Thanksgiving is marked with a feast consisting of turkey, vegetables, pumpkin pie, potatoes, and others. Parades are also held across the country, while special events are rolled out. Businesses, schools and other establishments are often closed during Thanksgiving so as to allow employees and students to share the day with people close to them. Many establishments and government agencies even give a four-day holiday to their staff during this time.

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The economy has made gift-giving for the holidays difficult. But you can economize, be creative, and have fun in producing gifts that show you care. One method is to shop throughout the year. If you see a sales special for an item you know will please someone, snatch it up and save. January is the month for white sales and all bedding is steeply discounted. You can purchase some beautiful sheet sets and surprise someone, who never expected to receive such an item.

Gift items needn't be expensive or conventional. You can forgo the X-box 360 and give nephew collectible sports cards of his favorite team. Give mom or nana a box of tree ornaments. How about a favorite plant for your uncle's green thumb?

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Holidays create stress for many people.

Pressure to purchase gifts and attend social gatherings can affect your mood and eventually causes depression in many of us. And Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) can send your spirits plummeting. Here are some guidelines to help you deal with holiday depression.

Realize you are not alone in feeling down during the holiday season. Many others are affected by feeling less than cheerful.

Get some exercise three or four times a week to kick in endorphins, the feel-good hormone.

Avoid imbibing too much alcohol, a powerful depressant. If you're not chronically depressed, small amounts of eggnog or other light alcoholic beverages should not affect you.

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In another way, how to avoid fighting with some family members you know will get you upset

The holidays are nearly here, and that means get-togethers with family and friends. These can be joyous occasions or oppressive ones. It all depends on how you handle the difficult personalities of immediate or extended family members. They are the ones most likely to affect your mood negatively.

It's important to understand how others' moods can affect us, especially our relatives. The principle to keep in mind when dealing with difficult personalities is you don't need to tolerate their bad behavior. By allowing their negativity to affect your mood, you subject yourself to psychological abuse and physical harm to your health. To protect and take care of yourself, be honest but don't judge them.

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It's April Fool Day. You can expect someone to pull something foolish on April Fool Day such as this joke The "Haitian Joudalist just pulled on you.

Were you taken by the joke?

Come on admit it. I got you this time.

Although this is not an official Holiday, April Fool Day has been widely recognized as a day where everyone will play all kinds of jokes and foolishness.

It is not any different in Haiti. On April Fool Day, you can expect the Haitians to come up with alll kind of funny jokes.

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In Haiti, Christmas traditions varies from cities to country sides. However, no matter where you are in in the country, you can easily observe happiness and joy.

For the Haitian people, Christmas or how it is called "Nwel" is a special season, whether you are an adult or a child. It is not so much about the money in Haiti because most of us do not have much to live on, even less to share by buying expensive gifts like it is done in the richer countries like the Canada, the Unites States and France, just to name a few.

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In the aftermath of Haiti Earthquake, Valentine's day should have a very special meaning to us Haitians. Valentine's day should be a special day to remind us Haitians how fragile we are and for us to appreciate even more our loved ones.

If we don't learn anything else from Haiti earthquake, we should at least learn that we can't wait for tomorrow to do something that needs to be done today. The same way, we can't wait to show our love because it might be too late.

Let' show some love on this Valentine's Day with this beautiful Haitian music video from Gracia Delva for this Special Valentine's Day:

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