How To Stop Bringing Office Politics Into The Kitchen

You stop bringing office politics into the kitchen by giving the story a lid: one sentence about what happened, then a question about their day.

Replaying every alliance at dinner trains the family to live in your workplace. They did not apply for that job.

What is a lid?

"My supervisor moved the goal again. I am handling it. How was the kid's recitation?" Lid. Not a 40-minute org chart.

When do you need more than a lid?

When you need a decision: quit, report, document. Then schedule the talk like a meeting, not as seasoning on the ulam.

What if you have no one else to tell?

A journal, a trusted friend not in the office, a counselor. Using your wife as the only landfill will sour the kitchen.

Related reading: How To Handle A Toxic Supervisor.

Frequently asked questions

Isn't sharing supposed to be intimacy?
Sharing feelings is intimacy. Dumping a full season of office is unpaid labor.

What if she asks for details?
Then you can open the lid. Asked is different from flooded.