The holidays. Is it a time for family? A time to show goodwill to all?

Take a moment to reflect upon this..

By Caitlin Mckay, Staff Writer

The holiday season is all wrapped up and quite frankly, I need a break.  The endless stream of holiday parties are what bows are to presents – unnecessary and a little over the top.

Not to mention the deep sense of guilt I feel over all the holiday food.

To be clear, I’m not saying ‘bah-humbug’ to the holidays.  Just the excessive build up. When did the holidays begin before Remembrance Day? I’m not sure what calendar Shoppers Drug Mart is using but I sure don’t have the same one. The buildup has become the main show and December 25 has become just another party but with more presents.

And then there’s the post holiday season! Boxing Day has become Boxing Week. Seven days for a tug of war to rag inside my conscious. While I like to shop and save, I have this pesky moral aversion to materialism. Should I shop? I just got all these presents and yet the sales and savings are so tempting!  But I just spent a month in a mall.

[pullquote] I’m not saying ‘bah-humbug’ to the holidays.  Just the excessive build up.[/pullquote]As you can see my conscious is tormented by the pressure to spend money.

Once I have survived the holiday parties, the actual holiday itself and boxing week, it all ends with one final hurrah.  By December 31 I’m so partied out that sometimes I just want to curl up in bed with a good cup of tea and be thankful I survived the season. However, that would be lame. So I go out. I have a good time and I come home, hopefully without losing my shoe, phone or keys. How does one lose a shoe? I don’t know, but it happens.

It may be the most wonderful time of the year but it’s also the most stressful. I had to create the seating plan for the relatives this year and trust me that was no walk in the snow.

So next year I will trim the fat off the turkey and the holiday excess. It’s meant to be 12 days of Christmas, not 45. That’s too many of Lords–a-Leaping. So in sticking with tradition, my holiday season will begin on December 13.

Now that January 1 is merely hours away, I can see the light at the end of tunnel. I can finally relax. The stressful month of present shopping, family drama, awkward office parties and extreme materialism is over. Except it’s not relaxing – I have to go back to work. Hmm, maybe the holidays don’t seem so stressful after all.

Sources:
http://articles.chicagotribune.com
http://www.mayoclinic.com
http://www.theglobeandmail.com
http://www.apa.org
http://www.petoskeynews.com