Confessions of a Holiday Scrooge

Can we just be honest for a minute?The holidays are the worst. Yeah, I said it. The holidays are absolutely terrible. I’ll say it with no shame: I am 100 percent a Scrooge this time of year.

It’s not that I dislike the idea of the holidays. Honestly, I like the idea of slowing down, showing a little reverence, and spending quality time with family. I even enjoy a few Christmas movies. (Michael Caine as Scrooge is still one of the best portrayals ever put on screen—fight me.)

But let’s be real: the holidays almost never deliver what they promise. The six weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year’s are fraught with chaos. Holiday parties, school pageants, family obligations… suddenly already-packed schedules are overflowing with, let’s be honest, a bunch of crap.

And then you’re expected to feel guilty for wanting to skip the third school pageant featuring kids who also don’t want to be there. We have eleven other months to connect with our peers and relatives. Do we really need to cling to this idea that the only time we’re ever going to see Aunt Judy and Uncle Frank—who, let’s be honest, we’d see more often if we actually wanted to—is during this six-week mayhem marathon?

Don’t even get me started on how the season shifted from celebrating Christianity to worshipping capitalism—cue Charlie Brown and the tiny, sad tree.

But if I’m being completely honest about what bothers me most, it’s this: the holidays are excuse season. They give us cover to overindulge, to put our goals aside, and to stop making progress toward our physical and mental well-being. All the chaos becomes a convenient smokescreen for skipping the gym, eating that extra piece of pie, and drinking our weight in wine.

I’m guilty of it too—but only because these are the norms we’re all expected to follow. When in Rome, right?

So here’s my prescription: stick to your routine.Yes, go to your kid’s Christmas pageant—they’ll appreciate it more than anyone. Go to the holiday party if you want. Have dinner with your in-laws and their entire extended family, most of whom you’ll never see again. But do it all in moderation.

Don’t stress too much about hurting someone’s feelings. You’re going to, one way or another. But stick to your routine as much as you can. Keep going to the gym. Keep your eyes on your goals. Don’t let six weeks of socially sanctioned chaos pull you off track.

You’ll thank me later when sticking to your New Year’s resolutions feels a whole lot easier.(And honestly… we should probably get rid of those too, but that’s a blog for another day.)