Just when you think you can’t take anymore, all of the gifts are unwrapped and the holidays wrap up. Don’t get me wrong — I love the spirit and festivities that surround Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve. I just love the end of all of that joyousness as well. I can understand why every news magazine features stories about the levels of stress and depression that heighten over the holidays. There is immense pressure to conform to some preconceived notion of a perfect holiday season, from quality time with loved ones, family and friends to decorations, gifts and enough food to sustain a small country. With all of the rejoicing going on, why not celebrate the end of this holiday madness too?
Today the remaining houseguests staying in my home will leave. New Year’s Eve still hovers on the horizon, but we don’t place the same overwhelming importance on that day, thankfully. I will slowly start to adjust our home to regular living again, removing the trimmings and holiday decor and finding places to store our new belongings (read: the onslaught of toys from Santa and others). We will pare our diet down to sensible serving sizes and revert to a normal routine. Bakeware will go back into lesser-used cabinets and everyone will go to sleep in their own beds at reasonable hours. The amount of trash manufactured daily will decrease by 90 percent.
Best of all, we can take a collective deep breath, remark how much we enjoyed seeing everyone and how nice the gifts were, and shape our memories to include all of the sparkle and magic of the season and none of the moodiness, bickering or general stress that crept about the house and everyone in it. It’s over, and that’s the best gift to receive.
