We’ve all been there before and perhaps even experience it every year – the family guilt trip around the holidays. “I never get to see you,” your mother says as you roll your eyes and visualize all the reasons why that is. Living on the west coast certainly has their perk, that’s for sure. One of them that stand out is the distance that separates me from my crazy family. Oh, yes, they try to lure you in with a variety of ways; guilt trips, promises of trips and even gifts! But beware – these seemingly sweet little olive branches are merely tricks to get you in their clutches.

Many of us have the capacity to laugh at our dysfunctional families and others deny that they exist. Whether it’s crazy Uncle Joe or delusional Aunt Sally or even our endlessly irritating nagging mother, we’ve all thought about how to cope with the inevitable family craziness that enters our lives during late December.

Here are some tried and true escape tactics for when you want to get away from it all:

#1 Pretend to get an important business call

Sure, your family will want to pull you away from anything that seems important to you just to have you selfishly to themselves but if there’s one thing they feel bad about – it’s distracting you from work. Have one of your friends call you and pretend that you’re on an important call that you just can’t get away from. When you get off the phone, explain to your family that unfortunately, you have a lot of work to do that just came up. They’ll feel bad for you and leave you alone. Then you can sneak off and have some alone time.

#2 Go work out.

Tell your family that you are on a strict workout schedule and that although this is the holiday, that’s no excuse to skip your regimen. Then, either go for a run or find the local gym in your parent’s hometown. In fact, you can get a week long pass at many gyms so you can workout everyday if you like and get some reprieve from family craziness

#3 Take the family out to see a movie. A long movie.

They will think you’re generous for treating them to a movie so you’ll be a hero for the day and they’ll have no choice but to be quiet for a few hours. Then, if you want, you can take them out to dinner someplace they would like to go. Try Chili’s. Or Benihana’s. It may not be your cup of tea but they’ll love it and you’ll be the hero, once again.

#4 Offer to drive them to the local outlet mall to go shopping.

Shopping distracts everyone. The key to going outlet shopping is that they are multiple stores in a central location. The benefit here is that you can leave your family in one store and run around to the other shops you are actually interested in. That’s right, no more Pottery Barn – Bebe is calling. You can spend multiple hours shopping and before you know it, the day has flown by. After shopping, you can get grab a quick bite at a diner on the way home. Most likely, everyone will be so tired from shopping there will be no energy left for fun petty family arguments.

#4 Plan a day long outing. Anywhere.

Take the family to a museum or a trip up or down the coast. Wherever you go, make sure it’s either scenic or educational. It’s a good idea to sleep in a bit and leave around 11 am. That way, you’ll have already used up a big chunk of the day and won’t have to worry about what else to do to fill up time. Families loves cultural experiences so visiting local museums, aquariums, historical sites will be fun for them.

#5 Join in local holiday festivities.

Is there a tree lighting somewhere? Caroling? Driving through neighborhoods to look at light displays is always fun. Make a big deal out of the fact that you are visiting during the holiday season. It will be ingrained in their memories that you care enough about them to visit during such a hectic time. Even if it’s as simple as cooking a special holiday meal, it will be appreciated.

It’s true, families can be a challenge, and even though you may prefer to be on a tropical beach somewhere during your much anticipated winter break, and you’re stuck in the middle of Nebraska with nothing to do but bide your time for a week, there can be a silver lining to this stormy cloud. Family is family. They’re who created us and whether we like it or not, they’ve helped shape who we are today, so buck up and suck it up – you’ve got some time to do and now, a few great strategies.