The holidays as a mom are beyond stressful. Can we stop the illusion that it’s all magic and gingerbread houses with happy holiday memories?

We spend months prepping for both of these back to back holidays, stretch our wallets, and really drive in that mom guilt to the max, and it’s just a yearly tradition we all accept as normal.

I do my Christmas shopping in the summer time for a number of reasons-

1. Black Friday and cyber Monday “deals” aren’t actually a sale and most times prices increase for those shopping holidays
2. Living in a low income city porch pirates steal mail in the month of December. I try to stop my packages coming in by mid November to prevent our shit getting stolen again.
3. When you purchase 5-6 months in advance an item or so a week it really is way less stressful and less expensive.

I know not everyone has that option but it absolutely breaks my heart the number of people who end up going into serious debt for Christmas. (I’ve done it myself years ago so I’m not judging but it’s just a shitty fact about capitalism and how things are now that people really do end up in substantial debt over the Christmas holiday.)

All of the financial stress aside, there’s wrapping, hiding the gifts, and let us not forget the moving of those bullshit elves. Advent calendars, a billion decorations that burp glitter all over your house- it’s like a craft fair was nuked with some of the holiday decor once it’s been tampered with by kids.

Instead of an elf we have a “Snoop on a stoop”. He runs on drug dealer time and doesn’t show up until 12 days before Christmas: there was no way in hell I was committing to 24 days of that shit.

The fact that the elf things been all of a sudden added to the list of things you need to do to keep this Christmas shit magical is kinda rip off.

The imaginary old white dude and the elves get all the credit meanwhile behind the scenes there’s parents in sheer disarray from having to keep up these daily juggling acts.

In defiance I don’t write Santa or any “from ____” on gifts. It’s a small fuck you to the system but I’m sick of an imaginary old guy having all the credit for holiday cheer when it’s exhausted and mentally fried moms that actually achieve the miracles✌🏻