One Christmas dinner with my grandparents and basically my mother's side of the family, there was a lot of tension. My beloved sister decided to spend Christmas with her husband's family that year, Aunt A's son had recently knocked up his girlfriend and he was there with her, Aunt B's son had dropped out of college, Aunt C's kids couldn't make it at all (don't remember why), Aunt D was being her regular busy-body self, my father was late, my mom was hi, there was too much alcohol, and... I was fairly successful, going to college, getting good grades, working a decent job, in a happy committed relationship with a woman (whom I'd didn't bring with me, but only because I knew what was going to happen). In the end, pretty much everyone ganged up on me. They were mad at me because, I quote, "I'm so stuck-up," "I don't know what's good for myself," "I'm not living up to the family legacy," "I don't give a rat's @$$ about how f***ed up my mom gets," and, my favorite, "I should try to be more friendly so my cousins will live up to my example." ...They were all pretty drunk and pitiful, and I didn't really stick around to have a shouting match with them. We're all pretty damn dysfunctional normally, but add alcohol... Well, you can see what happened. And I'm sure if I had succumbed to the tension, and had a glass myself, I would've stuck around to make myself miserable. It's like part of our genetic make-up or something, I swear. I left to go to my girlfriend's family's house. All in all, I would have to say that was my worst dinner party ever, though my Christmas wasn't entirely ruined. My girlfriend's parents were really nice, and her siblings were funny. In any case, I think my drama was pretty one-of-a-kind. You think that type of crap only happens in sit-coms, but with my family... Well, I just don't think you should use my extreme example to try to disaster-proof your dinner party. My family is immune to disaster-proof measures. So just be happy you're not related to them.