That Would Send Me Over the Edge, But It's A Short Trip

I was at a garden centre getting some items to make my Christmas urns.  Yes, they still weren't done even though it was December 15th.  And the only reason I was finally doing it was because I had company coming over that night, okay?  I actually still had mums in my urns, that's how bad it was.
(In their defense, they still looked pretty good!)

Anyway, I was grabbing some curly willow (I LOVE curly willow) when I overheard a man asking for help from the staff.  Apparently he and his wife had agreed not to buy each other anything this Christmas; instead, they were going to make their gifts.  He had decided to make a terrarium for her.

I felt like saying kindly to him, "You don't have kids, do you?"  (Or they do, but the kids are in university, or living out of province.  Or perhaps they both just work at home and have tons of time.)

And maybe it's just me, but that would send me right over the edge.

I'm finding it stressful enough just BUYING all the gifts I have to get and do all the things I have to do for Christmas without making anything. 

I know it's environmentally friendly and more thoughtful, blah, blah, blah - okay, it's a good idea.

It still stresses me out!

(And no, the picture above isn't my urn.  It's someone else's.  Mine don't look that good.  But I did make them.  Maybe my husband would accept them as his Christmas gift?)

 

'Holiday Hell Moment'

There was just an article in the paper talking about this man whose wife had had a 'holiday hell moment'.  It didn't specify exactly what the wife did.  The husband was so devastated he had to go to his friends' home to recuperate.  The article was talking about how to avoid those moments, so the poor spouses wouldn't have to deal with them.

Let's step back a moment, here.  I mean, I'm not condoning that anyone have a holiday hell moment.  It doesn't sound very festive.  But I think we should ask the question about why the wife was having a holiday hell moment at all.

Is it possible that she is the one who is responsible for doing all the shopping for gifts for a long list of people?  That she has to shoulder all the baking, wrapping, decorating and cooking?  Card-writing and package-sending?  And the one that strikes fear into the heart of anyone with small children - holiday home cleaning?

I'm sure there are husbands out there who do some of these things, but can we generally agree that mostly it falls on the woman?

How festive can you be when you have so much stress??

Maybe more husbands should be asking their wives how they can help, and making tea and giving foot rubs.  Maybe THAT would prevent a holiday hell moment.  (Did I say tea?  I meant red wine!)