Cuz seriously it's eating my ass alive.

Family issues, health issues, work issues, kid issues, money issues..... jeez.... I wish it was January!


All this holiday hupla just gets more annoying each year.

Bah Humbug!

Don't celebrate as I will be doing this year....

or you can hibernate until it is all over.

Easy we just don't have the holiday

I let others take over.
If it gets too stressful, I just fill up my glass.

shanti0608 said:

I'm picking the inbetween option and going with spiked eggnog, minus the eggnog as a solution this year!

Eat a lot! So much so that you pass the fuck out. Then when you wake up eat more.

Ocean said:

You do have Christmas though

Sweeny79 said:

sounds good to me

MissMe said:

Amen to that!

PEJ said:

Sadly, it seems, that's what I do all year long.

I just eat and drink myself silly until I pass out.

Alcohol and sleep can cure a lot of things.

Sweeny79 said:

booze!

or make a game out of it! for instance, my sister and i have a bet going as to when our parents will first start fighting. she thinks tonight when we're all home together, i say tomorrow when the cooking starts for thanksgiving.

evenstar said:

Oh! Put me down for $10 that your mom stabs your dad with the carving knife by 5:30pm!

Therapy.

And telling people off when they need it.

The holidays can drive you crazy! But sometimes you just need to back up, walk away from things, and just try your best to de-stress. And if that doesn't work, you can do like I do...down a bottle of wine!

But really, I do hope the stress doesn't eat you alive to much!

hokie1 said:

hokie1 said:

oh, definitely.

One word:

rye.

Sweeny79 said:

this works for me

i'm not really feeling the holiday stress this year. i'm feeling a bit of sadness because the only blood relatives i ever celebrated the holidays with died within the past year, so this year i will be solely with family of choice for the first time. as sad as i am about not having my mother and my grandmother around for the holidays, i am letting myself enjoy the differences in my holiday season this year and i'm going to try to make the best of it.

so i dunno - if you're stressed, just be grateful your family is still around. i know that sounds sanctimonious, but i don't mean it that way - i'm just saying it from a place of experience.

Anxiety said:

Of course you are right Anx, I know I do have tons to be Thankful for, and I am, I just have some serious things going on... I hope that the season isn't too hard on you.

Sweeny79 said:

yeah, and i don't mean to belittle or dismiss your stress. sometimes a different perspective can make the stress just 1% less unmanageable. just make sure all the egg nog is good and spiked this year, k?

I drink.

Sweeny79 said:

I hear ya on that, I feel the exact same way. I find spending time with family to be stressful, instead of enjoyable. Not good.

I stopping going to my family's house for holidays.



I haven't been "home" for Thanksgiving in 10+ years and I don't miss it one bit.
This year I decided I am not going back for Christmas either. It's too stressful (8+ hours of travel, my cousins don't talk to me, my one grandmother is suffering from dementia, I think--she can't remember what happened 2 days ago, so why bother going if she won't remember?) I'm sure my family (eg Mom & Dad) will be a little sad since this is the first year; but by next year it will be no big deal. I feel so unstressed...no traveling, no gifts to buy, no f*ckin' forced holiday cheer. Can't wait to not have to deal with any of it!

DevotedPuppy said:

I admire you for being able to do this. I tried to back out of Thanksgiving this year, and my family knew I didn't have enough money to buy a plane ticket to travel to my brother's house in North Carolina. Well, it did not work, because my brother, who is having everybody over, bought me a plane ticket so that I could attend. How can I say no to that without looking like a total jerk?

Give up celebrating or... stressing=celebrating.
Either celebrate the true meaning, that should not entail $$$... but family time (if local).

Work on the holidays, which I am tomorrow and usually do Christmas Day... and working with patients in the hospital usually gives me a sense of...

STOP COMPLAINING, there are people who have it way worse. This is true.

I do enjoy celebrating time, whether it be the actual day, the next day... or every chance I get with my parents. But I have stopped buying presents for every tom dick and harry. But I do buy my parents some of meaning, they deserve all that is good, even if the token is small.

My present to them is usually quality time, all year.

psychodelicide said:

Thanks...Thanksgiving was the easy one--the first one I missed was because I was in France studying so I couldn't just fly home for the weekend. After that, it was easier to get out of. And I always used the excuse that with 8+ hours of travel it wasn't worth it to travel all that time for just 3 days....

Christmas wasn't quite as easy...I've actually been trying to get out of it for a couple years now and last year a bunch of stuff happened that was just the last straw for me. I used to go back for 5-7 days to make it worthwhile, but I moved to New York 4 years ago, which added at least $200 to the ticket price & an extra 3-4 hours of travel. It used to be easy: xmas eve at my mom's parents, xmas day at my dad's parents. But then my brother & cousins all got married and now everyone's schedules are all jacked so when I go back it's like 4 days of Christmas in a row and I get a guilt trip if I want to cut out early and hang with my friends (which I only see once a year).

So, last year I told my mom when I went back that was it. No more. She didn't like it, but she could tell I was serious. She'll have to tell my grandparents and aunts/cousins next month, when they ask when I'll be back, so I'm kind of getting off easy in that regard but whatever. None of them (except my parents) ever came to visit me--not once--in the 6 years I lived in Chicago or since I've lived in New York so why should I be the only making the effort? They are welcome to come to NYC for the holidays, but surprise surprise, they don't want to.

DevotedPuppy said:

Awe... that sounds exhausting. ~Hugs.

I started out by disclaiming my religion, many... years ago. I then worked on, I don't claim any religion, which way back when did not go to well with my family and sister. Now, many years later... they have accepted me for me... and I don't feel stressed at all, and I can still enjoy time spent with them, without feeling obligated. Quality time is the best gift, I believe.

One does feel out of the loop, especially when everyone you know celebrates, which is kind of my situation... but it only lasts a day. By now... it is just the norm. People (meaning family/close friends) just accept it.