Holiday Stuff We Gripe About But Secretly Love
Ahh, the holidays! Long lines, cranky, overtired kids ... cranky, overtired moms ... annoying relatives, credit card bills ... There's plenty to complain about this season. But there are some things you complain about that you secretly love, and you know it! We're calling your bluff on these holiday gripes that are close to your heart.
Shopping
Whether you're a die hard Black Friday veteran or an online-only shopper, you have to admit you get a little thrill when you find that perfect gift for your hard-to-please brother-in-law or your have-everything-already mom. Or when you score the season's must-have item . (We won't judge if you do a little fist pump!)
Sure you'll be up 'til 2 AM on Christmas Eve (and the kids will be UP at 4!), but it's a final moment of quiet in the chaos of the lead-up to the holiday. And if you can convince your partner to help, it's a great time to reconnect.
Decorating Cookies with the Kids
Yes, they make a HUGE mess that you have to clean up. And no, you won't be eating that batch of cookies they sneezed on. But there's little more adorable at the holidays than their concentration when they're dumping half a bottle of colored sugar on a single snowflake cookie.
Get 25 Awesome Christmas Cookie Recipes
Tracking down the address of your cousin who moves 3 times a year is a pain. As is getting the kids to sit still for a picture, ordering them (on time!) and buying all those damn stamps. But you know you love showing off your gorgeous family every year-and seeing how much your friends' kids have grown when you get their cards!
Get Ideas to Help Celebrate the Holidays Virtually
How is it that we have the technology to transplant human limbs, but we can't manage to make Christmas-tree lights easy? Never mind, as painstaking as it is to drag all the decorations out of the attic and vacuum up pine needles for a month, you wouldn't trade the nostalgia of unpacking your Grandad's old nutcracker or watching your kids excitedly see their favorite ornaments again.
Sure it takes you days to get everyone and everything packed up, planned out, in the car and on the road. And sure, there will be 8 rounds of "are we there yet", 15 bathroom breaks and possibly a carsickness incident. But a single, heartfelt verse of "Over the River and Through the Woods" and the smiles on Grandma's face when you arrive make it all worthwhile.
Your pants aren't gonna fit for the whole month of December, but you know as well as we do that when you're stuffing that fourth mini-cheesecake in your mouth, indulging in your aunt's spinach artichoke dip and downing two glasses of eggnog a day, you don't give a rat's ass how your own ass looks!
Calorie-Laden (But Who Cares? It's Christmas!) Treats
Visits with Pain-in-the-Butt Family
We're not gonna tell you it's fun listening to your drunk Uncle Arnie blasting everyone from the head of the Christmas dinner table, but those annoying, rude, embarrassing, obnoxious, ignorant, loudmouth people are your family and the holidays just wouldn't be the holidays without them.
Get Tips on Dealing with Annoying Family Members
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