If you are lucky enough to be blessed with a happy and healthy family it is essential that you give thanks to the powers that be as well as each other because it is truly a gift. That said, these beloved creatures also come with a three day 24/7 expiration date. So after you're through telling them how grateful you are to have them in your life you should plan an exit strategy to get away from them.

It's important that you gage your own individual family and have an accurate assessment of how much time you really want to spend with one another in close quarters with sharp knives present.

One man invites his parents to his family's house with what we could call a hard out – they must leave by 6 pm or whenever it gets dark, whatever comes first. They can arrive as early as they want – he puts out an antipasto plate at 8:00 a.m., but when that fat lady in her tryptophan haze sings, they need to be back on the road.

Now if your family is coming in from out of town this would appear inhospitable, however after a certain age pull out couches and air mattresses just don't cut it. Since so many people travel over the holidays, explore the possibility that your spill-over family might be able to stay at a vacant friend or neighbor's house. You could exchange the favor the next holiday. Or trade dog or cat sitting services for the right for Uncle Al to bunk in with the four legged furries.

Speaking of dogs, these are one of the great underutilized resources (except by cheating husbands) to get you out of the house. Take Fido for a walk . . . to Montauk. The fresh air is good for both of you, and if you're just visiting the Hamptons you get to experience the winter beauty of the beaches here. If you don't have your own dog you can always head over to the Animal Rescue Fund in Wainscott (www.arfhamptons.org) where the dogs awaiting adoption would really appreciate the opportunity for a nice volunteer like yourself to take them out on the trails behind the center. Although they don't allow dogs, Mashomack Nature Preserve on Shelter Island has 2,000 acres for you to explore (www.shelter-island.org). Depending on your motivation and how long you'd like to avoid your relatives you can take a one mile, five mile, or fourteen mile hike. The trails are flat and well marked so all fitness levels are welcome.

Rainy days may inspire you to stay inside, and this is where a good game can come in handy. We always like Scrabble in my family although for years we struggled to come up with words with "J" because my mother mistakenly bought the Spanish language version. It helps if you memorize all the two letter words from the Scrabble dictionary.

If you have a particularly competitive family however games can quickly lose that fun feeling. My ex-father in law was banned from playing Chutes and Ladders with his five year old granddaughter because it turned ugly. Family photos are fun to bring out if you wish to test if your new girlfriend or boyfriend will still love you after seeing you with your mullet which seemed cutting edge cool at the time.

The holidays present a perfect time of year to take advantage of the Hamptons' cultural scene that you missed because you spent all summer surfing at the beach or drinking champagne at polo. How many of us who live here have not been to Guild Hall to view the East End photography exhibit (www.guildhall.org) or the Parrish Art Museum for the Lichtenstein's (www.parrishart.org) or taken an afternoon just to peruse all the amazing art galleries. If you have kids, maybe you haven't ever checked out the interactive Children's Museum of the East End (www.cmee.org). Time off can be a gift so use it to explore all the treasures here that you miss in the hustle and bustle.

Be brave this holiday season and find a way to enjoy your family quality time while being assured that you can escape to nature, culture, or the nearest pub and by the time you get back, you may actually have missed them.