Surviving the holidays: What does that even mean?
This holiday season I noticed an abundance of articles dedicated to “surviving” the holidays. How have you survived the holiday season? What thing or situation did you feel you needed to survive?
Bonus: What are your plans for New Year’s Eve? New Year’s Day?
Jack’s Answers
Surviving the holiday season isn’t really an issue for me. I genuinely enjoy this time of year despite the added traffic and crowds, greater expenditures, and forced socializing. Additionally since I usually make a handful of gifts for family members, I find myself short on sleep the closer we get to Christmas, and this year was no exception. For me, though, it’s generally worth it as I enjoy seeing smiles on the faces of my loved ones. Make no mistake, the holidays are usually stressful for me. But it’s usually not negative stress. There is little adversity for me. I don’t have to deal with toxic relatives or politically-charged arguments at the dinner table, and in fact I opted out of visiting Trump-supporting relatives on Christmas Eve. I don’t spend money to the point that I’m buried in debt until July. I don’t experience depression or anxiety specifically related to the holidays. I know these are just a few of the issues that make some people dread this time of year.
All that said, I did make time for fun this month. A several-day trip to Ohio to visit Rye started the month off in suitably sexy fashion, and beyond that I had a couple opportunities to go drinking with friends. While Jill was out of town visiting a friend, I enjoyed some one-on-one time with my daughter which involved playing at home, driving around looking at Christmas lights, and going out to dinner. With the exception of the first item, these are things that rarely happen when it’s just the two of us. I even had fun at Jill’s family’s annual Christmas party despite the absence of my wife (and my inability to flirt with anyone given the fact it was a family event) and the lack of alcohol owing to the policy of the venue. I would have loved to have been invited out to socialize with friends more than I actually did, but three such instances in eight days may be a record for yours truly.
As for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, we rarely do much. New Year’s Eve usually sees us eating junk food and watching TV. Our daughter may fall asleep at her usual bedtime, but if not we probably won’t put her to bed before the ball drops at midnight. Jill and I will drink champagne to toast the end of a lousy year and ring in a year that might actually be worse, and then we’ll probably fuck on the couch. That’s what we did last year, anyway.
Jill’s Answers
The holiday season is usually pretty stressful for me. I am usually unable to put my needs first, as everyone – my husband and my daughter, my students, my friends, and my entire extended family – needs more from me this time of year than I can easily give. By Christmas Day, and usually well before, I usually feel totally drained and it makes for a less relaxing winter vacation than I need it to be. However, this year I survived Christmas by focusing on my needs for once. I got a massage, and spent an few sexy days in a hotel far from Jack and our daughter. I was truly spoiled. I also made a conscious effort to focus on the positive things in my life. While I was away I found myself missing Jack and the little one, which ensured I’d want to spend time with them when we were reunited a few days before Christmas.
December is always very busy for us. I was invited to four Christmas parties this month, and I was unable to attend three of them because my daughter was ill. I missed the fourth party because it coincided with my sexy hotel stay. I was looking forward to all four of them, and although I was disappointed to have to miss them I made the most of it. I guess you could say I survived the disappointment. But I feel like I barely survived the last week of school with my students. This year’s class is difficult and uncooperative during a normal week, and the last week of school before winter vacation almost broke me. Still, I’m glad to have some time to relax, and I hope to make the most of it before school starts again in January.
As of right now we have no plans for either New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day. Maybe we’ll be invited somewhere exciting! [Editor’s note: I doubt it.]
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