PANIC: if you can't drink during the holidays

Spending days with family together at the end of December is of course incredibly cozy, but honestly, a glass of red wine in your hand makes the whole affair just a bit more enjoyable.

Suddenly that aunt is really funny, that uncle is super nice, and that cousin isn't so bad after all. Although I'm just glad that I'm heavily pregnant during the winter months and not waddling around in the sweltering summer with an eight-kilo belly, there is one big downside. I can't drink during the holidays. Not at Christmas, not on New Year's Eve, and not on all those days in between. Nice ways to wrap up the year... Not. Sober through the holidays. How then? Everyone around you is tipsy and sluggish after an hour and a half, swaying around Christmas trees and under mistletoes, and you're just sitting there with your cucumber water. Because that looks so cozy, that cucumber. Well, believe me, I'd gladly trade that green for a good Chardo.

Anyway. That's not how life works. How do you manage not to drink and still have a bit of a festive mood? Just prepare yourself well for it. That switch is flipped in your head, it's not an option, for example if you're pregnant , like me. My fellow sufferers this year. So you don't have to think about it. You can worry about it for a long or short time, but the result remains the same: you're not drinking. There are also people who for other reasons leave the glass untouched. And we do it like this:

• Just join in the conversation about all the wines. Say something about the bottle, the smell, the year, the label, who cares. You’re still participating a bit.
• Grab a wine glass and fill it with something colorful. So no water. An apple juice. A lemonade. A makeshift non-alcoholic cocktail. Looks nice. Nice to sip on.
• Sing, dance, and chatter along; just as if you've had a drink. Chit-chatting works just fine if you're a bit high from the ginger tea.
• Alternate cold with warm drinks. That way it still seems like you have plenty of choices, even if it’s all a bit boring.
• Score something with bubbles in it, at least it’s a party in your glass.
• Don't emphasize it yourself. So don’t keep saying: ‘I want wine.’ ‘I'm sober, haha, you’re not.’ If you don’t complain about not being able to drink, then no one else will care a bit.
• And if it really starts to get out of hand and that nice uncle suddenly stands on the table and that cousin tries to feed you cigars... Just flee home. Bye, see you. Good luck with your hangovers, okay. And a happy new year.