The holidays are a time filled with joy, laughter, and family. They’re also super stressful, hectic, and there’s lots of build up to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, then it just fizzles out, but you’re left picking up the pieces {or cleaning up the mess} the week after. I recently saw Bad Moms Christmas with my Mom group and wasn’t expecting them to touch on what moms {really} experience during the holiday season. I really thought it was going to be just laughs. There were laughs {lots of laughs}. Bonus: Justin Hartley {Kevin from This Is Us} has a small role in the film, which includes being shirtless and dancing.
Here are three ways Bad Moms got deep:
- They decide to “take Christmas back” to help relieve the pressure that is put on Moms during the holiday season.
Wouldn’t you LOVE to do Christmas {or whatever holiday you observe} your way? I know what you’re thinking, but the kids. But what would Christmas your way even look like? Think about it, like really think about it? Here are a few things that come to mind for me. We’d stay in Christmas pajamas all day {or most of the day}, we’d open presents, make a big breakfast, play with toys and watch Christmas movies all day. Then my family would all come over and we’d continue these shenanigans into the night with a low key dinner {maybe even just appetizers and desserts} and we’d play fun games {like group games}.
I’m not quite sure how all of this got put on Moms. I saw a meme the other day that had the wife’s list versus the husband’s. As you can probably guess, the wife’s list had like 13 people and the husband’s list had 1. How did this become the norm?
2. They don’t see eye to eye with their mothers and freak out.
I’m not sure I would go the same route that Amy {Mila Kunis} does to make her point, but it shows how we are pretty close to our breaking point throughout the entire holiday season. If one thing is added to our list or someone puts a wrench in our plans, we are so overworked and stressed we lose it. Most of the time, we lose it on a person or people we love the most just because they’re there.
Besides all of the coping strategies to handle stress I put to practice every day, there’s gotta be boundaries. What are your holiday deal breakers? Is stopping at Aunt Margie’s house for dessert after spending the day traveling and seeing both sides of the family too much? What would happen if you said, “Sorry, Aunt Margie, not making it this year.”
3. The Moms of the Bad Moms hash out each other’s flaws and come to realize their own.
Sometimes you need another set of eyes exploring the situation, just like when writing a paper. If you’ve been looking at the same thing for days {or years} on end and can’t seem to have a breakthrough, you either need to step away and reboot or bring in the reserves. Even though I’d hate to hear him say, “I told ya so,” my husband is great at providing a fresh perspective on a situation, especially when I can’t get out of my own head. You may think you’ve got it all figured out and can’t figure out why the other person can’t get on board, but sometimes they’re feeling the same way.
I saw Bad Moms before Thanksgiving, which is a holiday we host. Typically, I go insane with decorating the table and tons of sides and desserts. People bring things to contribute to dinner and dessert, but I always add stuff in. We are left with tons of food that doesn’t get eaten and is usually thrown away a few days after turkey day. I have felt awful in the past with all the food that goes to waste, not to mention the money, and the stress of getting all of these things just to throw them away. I reevaluated how I approached Thanksgiving when hosting and let our guests stick to bringing the sides and desserts they said they would. I did minimal table decorations {I used what I already had and bought two tiny mums} and took care of the turkey. I must say, it was a very relaxing Thanksgiving morning. I knew the one responsibility I had was to cook the turkey. Every time I considered adding something to my list for the holiday, I questioned myself, ‘What will this contribute to the dinner? Will people even notice this? Is it worth the $20 the store is charging for it?’ The answer was ‘no’ in most cases.
Consider simplifying your holidays and enjoy the result of less stress.
