It's nice to imagine that when the holidays come around, we'll be able to spend the day with the people we love, showing gratitude for everything we've received.
But sometimes bad news or bad moods still show up on the holidays, and we have to figure out how to still be grateful for what's waiting under the Christmas tree.
Ready to stir it up, Redditor onakaiserbun asked:
"Who ruined your family Christmas this year, and what did they do?"
So Supportive
"Grandma called my degree useless and a waste of time and not gonna lie, that hurt and ruined Christmas for me."
"I just graduated this year and wasn’t even able to go to my own graduation because of the pandemic. I went to a top-10 college, too."
- Religiomism
Happy Anniversary
"My ex divorced me this year, finalized on what would have been my 11th year anniversary."
"She took the kids and moved 900 miles away. I’m so sad all the time now. Even having my kids with me for Christmas, I feel empty. All I want is my family back."
- taviken
Alone for Christmas
"I was planning to go spend Christmas with my mom and dad this year after my nine-year relationship (together for nine, engaged for a year and a half) broke off just before Christmas. I just moved out, so I'm alone for the first time in nine years."
"Then my dog got a stomach bug. He woke me up three times at night to go outside for a poo (he usually sleeps through the night with no problem) and I discovered a pile of puke on his dog bed."
"It's not his fault, but I don't know if I can go anywhere today."
- therealmoopdog
Not the Present You'd Want
"My wife. A couple of weeks ago she broke the news to me that she had an affair at the beginning of this year, and wants a divorce."
- Di5cipl355
Thanks, Mom
"My mother got belligerently drunk and locked herself in the closet. Then she vomited and my Dad and I were trying to drag her into her bed. She then proceeded to get violent with me and kicked me in the face."
"It’s a terrible feeling especially when the person won’t recognize they need help. It’ll get better some day."
- riverofdenali
"No Christmas Hallucinogens Allowed"
"My cousin, who bought Chic-fil-A so he wouldn't have to eat our homemade meals, announced upon arriving he wasn't helping with anything, tried to trip acid all day on Christmas Eve, got drunk before noon by himself on that same day when I told him no Christmas hallucinogens, and drunkenly screamed in my face when I told him to clean up his dishes and beer cans."
- VoteGeriatric2020
History Repeating Itself
"My girlfriend's sister... She has three young girls and a terrible choice of men, and she chooses today via a video of the kids to reveal to everybody that she is now dating a well-known junkie within our town."
"She has a very addictive personality and has struggled to stay clean herself, and my girlfriend is now ridiculously stressed out and worried for the kids."
- BlackHammer1312
Downplaying the Pandemic
"My mom. She hid the fact she has multiple viral symptoms. I was with her all night last night. I only found out because I heard her on the phone with my grandma asking her if she maybe has the virus."
"I only agreed to come up because I missed Thanksgiving due to the pandemic being bad in their county. I felt guilt-tripped into coming home for Christmas and now once I get back, I’ll be quarantined and have to take time off work."
- georgeharrisonyo
Uber Eats
"Christmas got canceled due to the parents having an argument in the morning and told everyone not to come."
"I spent Christmas with my cat and am eating Uber Eats."
- outis2
More Presents!
"It's Christmas morning and I can hear my nephew, who lives in the apartment downstairs, throwing a temper tantrum because he thinks his sister got 'larger gifts' from Santa this year."
"His dad: 'Are you joking right now? You better be joking. Say just kidding. Oh my god, tell me he's kidding.'"
"It's 8 AM."
- oohkt
Terrible News
"Lung cancer ruined my Christmas by popping up the week before Christmas. I’ve been an endurance athlete my whole life, no smoking and barely drink."
"All my pandemic tests were negative. So we did a CT scan that led to biopsies. Got the results three days ago. I’m only 29 years old, just finished grad school, and landed my dream job three weeks ago."
"Take a lesson from me and make an extra effort to be kind to the people around you each day. Life is too short to be a jerk. And life is too short to not help those around you who are less fortunate, be kind to everyone, you won’t regret it."
- xLabGuyx
Merry Christmas, Migraine
"My cluster headaches made an appearance after two months of quiet. The f**kers."
"They really do suck. I've seriously wanted people to kill me during bad ones just to stop the pain and I did induced labor without pain meds."
"My 2020 nightmare was literally six months of daily clusters. I thought I'd managed to get a drug solution. Today I found out not."
- vrosej10
Carer Fatigue
"My dad was hospitalized for alcoholism recently and now he's home. I'm the only family member left who will take care of him and help organize his care/life since my brother doesn't have any capacity to care whatsoever and is off having a happy little Christmas of his own."
"I came to spend Christmas with my dad even though he's in a bad mood and argumentative about things, he has carers that come in four times a day between 7 AM and 10 PM, which does not change over the holidays."
"I found that two expensive items have been stolen from his house last night (there are only carers that come in so it must have been them), had 2 hours of sleep last night because my dad has a searing toothache, and today I've had to call the medical care line to book a dental appointment for Sunday for him so will have to extend my stay with him to take care of that and get him there, even though I can't drive."
"There's no Christmas dinner, nothing special at all, and I'm very tired."
- Soundasleepx
Dog Surprise
"My kid's dog. The little b**tard broke his leash and took off for parts unknown."
"He came back an hour later with muddy feet and a s**t-eating grin like an hour of unsupervised freedom was his Christmas gift to himself. So it's not really ruined."
- SourImplant
When we think of the holidays, we like to think of the beautiful decorations, music, presents, and good food. Unfortunately, bad times still come around during the holidays, and sometimes, it feels like they show up even more so.
As long as we can remember the little things that make us happy, hopefully we can make a happy, if not simpler and less conventional, holiday for ourselves!
