How to Survive Single During the Holidays

My friend Doree Lewak, acclaimed author of The Panic Years, contributed this piece!

In defense of placating: The cheap, fake engagement ring to placate “panicked parents” just in time for the holidays

There are roughly 55 million single women in the US. Many of them are with-it, smokin’ and smart – and many with their finger on the pulse of life.  But when that certain finger is ringless, even the most self-assured single can dread the shame and rebuke of facing disappointed family during the holidays – especially when the really hostile ones who found the unlocked liquor cabinet constantly undermine you, demanding to know why you can’t scare up a date.  It can be downright soul-crushing when you come home empty-handed – literally! – no ring on that finger, watching family members’ faces crumble in disappointment that you’re back another year without any engagement bling.

In light of a holiday gone totally awry, single girls across the country are already dreading the trip home for the holidays later this month in what they’re expecting to mimic the “Thanksgiving Third Degree” – the ridicule, judgment and shame that they face because they know they’re a mere bad date away from being relegated to the kids’ table again.

Girls these days have almost no choice but to placate their “Panic by Proxy” at this point.  Sad but true, I actually know girls who have resorted to buying a fake, cheap engagement ring just to shut up their parents – and other overly-critical family members – and ensure a pleasant visit without guilt, shame or unnecessary therapy.

Sure, this might be a slippery slope towards avoidance issues and other psychological issues – but if it muzzles them long enough without you getting grilled about why your boyfriend of three years hasn’t proposed yet, it’s well worth the $30 investment!

The key here is a subtle stone, nothing over-the-top, so as to spare you having to create a long-winded engagement story..

Meagan was dating her boyfriend, Justin, for two years, driving her mother nuts because he hadn’t yet proposed. And she thought there’s still one thing worse in this world than being temporarily unhitched, and that’s unhinged – and Meagan was well on her way to being both, thanks to her mom’s relentless nagging about getting married. So because Meagan didn’t want more berating during her visit home for the holidays, she bought a cheap, fake engagement ring, and said Justin proposed just to keep the peace. And it shut her mom up long enough to enough quality and harmonious family time.

Three months later he DID propose, but on their own timetable.  That is one happy Panic Years ending if I’ve ever heard one!