Seasonal Stress Part 1
- 4 Dec 07, 02:44 PM
“Tis the season to be jolly”…..who on earth wrote that? Haven’t they realised that far from being jolly this is the season to be completely stressed out of your mind, spend money you don’t have, argue with all your nearest and dearest and finally console yourself with so much fat, sugar and alcohol that the very thought of it is enough to make Gillian McKeith explode like a pantomime villain – mmm, good plan!
And it’s always the same. No matter how much you tell yourself that this year it’ll be different, you’ll spend less and be really well organised, December always sneaks up on you by surprise. One minute you’re up to your neck carving pumpkin lanterns and next thing you know you’ve got your arm up to your elbow in a turkey’s backside.
Of course I am my own worst enemy. I cannot quite bring myself to consider the festive season until there is a ‘D’ in the month and by then it’s already too late – certainly if you want this year’s ‘must-have’ toy. Apparently one of the biggies for 2007 is some sort of games consul that, naturally, cannot be had for love nor money. Now, I ask you, what parent could bear to disappoint their children on Christmas morning? Can you imagine watching them excitedly unwrapping their presents, those shiny little faces eager with anticipation….and then seeing those happy smiles fade to dreadful disappointment as, with one final rip of the paper, they realise they didn’t get what they asked Santa for. What went wrong? Were they on the naughty list after all? Was another boy or girl more deserving? Honestly, you could scar a child for life with that sort of thing – Santa has a lot to answer for! I also think he should cut busy mums and dads a little slack these days.
Anyway, in an attempt to avoid this Scrooge like seasonal scenario parents will, quite literally, go to the ends of the earth to help good old Santa on his quest to find their little Brooklyns and Britneys exactly what they’ve asked for. Take my friend Noelle (a seasonal alias). After many, many weeks online, she finally acquired the aforementioned games console in Germany. So, seasonal peace and harmony will reign in her house for at least ten minutes….until her two boys start fighting over their presents and taking lumps out of one another, the dog goes mental and barks the house down, she eats the face off her husband because she has to shout at somebody and, finally, like many other housewives and mothers the length and breadth of the land she will reach for the sherry to get her through the day – and it isn’t even breakfast. Isn’t Christmas great!
Now, this is just one of the many, many trying situations to be faced over the coming weeks. So, in an attempt to keep us calm and sane, I have decided to put together a sort of advent calendar of stress as the countdown to Christmas continues. I think it could be good group therapy. You’re bound to recognise yourself and realise that however lonely it feels in this festive jungle we’re all right in there with you!
So what do you think for tomorrow – a little more shopping? Why not!
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