Does anyone else find that the holidays make them...angry?

[Green_Tea]

I love the holidays. The music, the decorations, the shopping - all of it. But every year at this time I get incredibly short tempered and basically completely PO'd with my family. I have zero patience for whining and complaining, be it from my husband or my kids. Selfish, bratty behavior infuriates me. To the point that I want to ship them all off to boarding school (DH included) and decorate and shop and bake ALONE.

I want to enjoy my kids at this time of year. But listening to them argue about who gets to put the angel on top of the tree, or cry because their candy cane broke or someone ate the last gingerbread cookie is enough to make me really lose my schmidt. I want peace. And quiet.

Right now I am holed up in my room sulking after yet another mommy temper tantrum about gum wrappers and Uno cards all over the floor. I am not normally like this.

Am I the only one?

[Twoboos]

Ohhh, you're not the only one.

The other night - in fact on November 30 - I had to listen to whining and complaining and real tears about how we were the ONLY house without outdoor lights up, and the ONLY people without a tree up, and WHEN could we get these things, and WHY isn't it now?

It wasn't even December, and we just moved 2 weeks ago and I have no clue where the outside lights are, and we get the tree 2 weeks before Christmas, so ENOUGH already!!!

:54:

[Kymberley]

You are not the only one, and this is my first year being completely frazzled. I'm actually sitting here with my jaw dropped because I read your thread and thought,"It's not just me!". I love Christmas time. It's my favorite holiday! But yesterday, I thought I was going to lose my mind with fury. Know why? I can't find any frickin fake mistletoe. None. And I'm so irrationally ticked off about it that DS's whining is setting me off. I had a LOT of mommy time-outs yesterday just so I wouldn't take it out on him. I don't like this feeling at all!

[MommyofAmaya]

The holidays do not make ME angry but it obviously has an effect on the drivers around me. Everybody is extra mean out on the roads at this time of year. I always make an extra effort to smile and wave at the honkers and tailgaters just so they see the ridiculousness of their attitude.

[crl]

I think the extra work of the holidays makes me shorter tempered. And the whining is even more annoying when I feel like I am working so hard to do things for the little creature who is whining at me--so little graditude for so much work!

Catherine

[hellokitty]

The holidays do not make ME angry but it obviously has an effect on the drivers around me. Everybody is extra mean out on the roads at this time of year. I always make an extra effort to smile and wave at the honkers and tailgaters just so they see the ridiculousness of their attitude.

This is the way I feel. I feel like ppl drive like a-holes during the holiday season. I happen to live in a neighborhood right off the main strip of box stores in our area, so I have a higher than normal exposure to a-hole holiday drivers. Today, I got cut off in a really dangerous way by one of those huge church vans (has like 5 rows of seats), when they were in the left turning lane and decided they wanted to go straight, so they just decided to merge right into MY lane, which is the lane that goes straight. The driver cut me off (and I drive a minivan, so it's not like didn't see my car), instead of just waiting and switching over to my lane AS we were already in the middle of intersection! It pissed me off and then not more than a mile later, the jerk in front of me in the left turning lane, decided to turn right! WTF? There must be something to brings out the stupid in ppl during the holidays. It makes me so furious. My brother was in a horrible car accident several yrs ago, when he was t-boned by a truck (he was driving a sedan that was older and didn't have side air bags) that ran a red light, and every time I am in one of these near miss situations, it just makes me so mad.

[maestramommy]

:hug: I think it can be really hard during the holidays. We want it to be special, even if it's low-key. WE think we know what it's all about. Unfortunately our (very young) children often haven't gotten the memo, so they're not on board. I am sure that my kids are no more or less trying than they usually are, but I may be wound up tighter, because everything seems to be colliding at a certain point in time.

[Globetrotter]

I think everyone is stressed out as there is tremendous pressure to present the perfect celebration for all - no wonder!

[JoyNChrist]

I think the extra work of the holidays makes me shorter tempered. And the whining is even more annoying when I feel like I am working so hard to do things for the little creature who is whining at me--so little graditude for so much work!

Catherine

I feel this way too. I feel like nobody - DS1, DH, our families - appreciates all the work I do to make our holidays nice. It's like they think all the decorations and food and presents just magically appear. And that makes it hard to keep wanting to do stuff.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

I think the extra work of the holidays makes me shorter tempered. And the whining is even more annoying when I feel like I am working so hard to do things for the little creature who is whining at me--so little graditude for so much work!



:yeahthat:

this is so true and SO well said. i love Christmas time too, but there is just so much stuff to be done this time of year, and a lot of it falls on me (DH hates doing "creative" stuff, so i do all the holiday carts, choosing outfits, photography, choosing gifts for others, etc). i've done a lot of stuff this season already....coordinating holiday pics, taking kids on polar express train, making photocalendars for grandparents, black friday shopping to get deals on gifts, getting tree/lights set up...and on Monday i'm going to go and do the Santa pics (by myself, DH is out of town). i've been getting tons of headaches lately and feeling extremely irritable and i think a lot of it just i'm getting so stressed out from trying to do so much stuff. i'm trying my best to chill, but it's hard. i think i need to save my energy for future years..DS is not even 2yo, probably could care less about a lot of stuff.

a lot of it too stems from the fact that as a kid, Christmas just wasn't a huge deal in our house and i was sort of resentful about it. we NEVER put up lights, we didnt' even have a Christmas tree until i was 8, and i never got big/nice gifts or anything bc my parents couldn't really afford it (and later, they just weren't into giving big gifts). we never really did things like pics with santa or train rides or anything like that, though i had always wanted to do those things. so i think a part of me wants to put in extra effort so DS can experience these things because I never got that chance.

eta: i agree with Stacy, during the holidays, it seems like moms have to do SO much stuff, since many things (food prep, sending out cards, making crafts/decorations, photo gifts, etc) falls on us.

[Melaine]

I love the holidays. The music, the decorations, the shopping - all of it. But every year at this time I get incredibly short tempered and basically completely PO'd with my family. I have zero patience for whining and complaining, be it from my husband or my kids. Selfish, bratty behavior infuriates me. To the point that I want to ship them all off to boarding school (DH included) and decorate and shop and bake ALONE.

I want to enjoy my kids at this time of year. But listening to them argue about who gets to put the angel on top of the tree, or cry because their candy cane broke or someone ate the last gingerbread cookie is enough to make me really lose my schmidt. I want peace. And quiet.

Right now I am holed up in my room sulking after yet another mommy temper tantrum about gum wrappers and Uno cards all over the floor. I am not normally like this.

Am I the only one?

Are you pregnant? ;) That's my excuse anyway.

Today I took the girls to the YMCA at 9 in the morning to get their photos done with Santa. They got to make a Christmas ornament, decorate a Christmas cookie and get their picture with Santa. We were there for probably 45 minutes total, most of that just playing around, talking to friends, and doing the crafts. We had to wait like 30 seconds for Santa!

Despite that, DD1 had TWO meltdowns about the same kind of trivial thing you are talking about in your OP. I was SOOOO frustrated. I feel like putting in all this effort to give them a fun Christmas season is NOT appreciated! We have had in general a lot of whining and crying lately and I feel like I have been super impatient about it. But I just feel like they are getting older and should be acting older, not regressing in behavior. Ugh. I feel your pain.

[Green_Tea]

Are you pregnant? ;)

No!!! But I'd be lying if I said I didn't stop to count the days since my last period, just to be sure ;).

Thank you all - you're ALL right. It's hard to be 100% responsible for everyone's Christmas happiness.

Hopefully Santa will bring me something amazing as a reward!

[arivecchi]

I get stressed out and short-fused as well. My solution is LOTS of coquito in my fridge and super festive Latin holiday music. :)

Let me know if you need the coquito recipe. ;)

http://www.amazon.com/Al-Rescate-De-La-Navidad/dp/B00157Z4K8/ref=ntt_mus_ep_dpi_1