If you think negotiation at work – sales contracts, salary and benefits, roles and responsibilities – is difficult, just wait until you come home.

Because negotiating skills are required as much (if not more) at the kitchen table as they are at the conference room table. After all, the textbook definition of “negotiation” is “any situation when two or more parties are coming to an agreement.” Understandably, this dynamic can create a layer of stress on top of what you might already be managing in your 9-5 (or shift work) life.

One of Women in Print Alliance’s featured coaches, Joan Moon of Moon Negotiation, lists examples of family negotiations as decision-making on things like: invitations, caretaking duties, financial support, and even approaches on how to treat the proverbial “black sheep” of the clan. (It starts early. Who of us didn’t at some point way back in time try to negotiate a promotion up from the “kid’s table?”)

Moon tells us that as the American end-of-year holiday season approaches, the situations calling for calm, collected and strategic negotiation skills ramp up. According to Moon, gender-based stereotypes  (particularly those with cultural bias) can add to the challenge for women and make it more difficult for them to be assertive in advocating for their wants and needs.

Fortunately, in her blog post “Why Negotiating with Family is Difficult,” Moon explores this phenomenon to let women know they are not alone in experiencing it. Even better, she provides tips and strategies you can apply to more effectively manage stressors at home with the same deft skill you employ at work.

Like what you’re reading from Joan Moon? Check out her website at moonnegotiation.com to access more tips and tools in her “Aspire for More: How to be an Everyday Negotiator” podcast.