HOLIDAY BURNOUT
Setting: Jen curled up on the couch with a pack of tissues and cough drops.
Jen: I’ve got the flu.
John: Again??
Jen: What do you mean ‘again’??
John: This is the second time in a month you’ve had the flu. The first was right before Christmas, and the second, hello?, right now. This happens every year. You always do too much around the holidays, you need to pare down your obligations and not worry about all the little things.
Jen: Well, sure, I’d love to ‘pare down my obligations’ but that would just make us look like bah-Humbug Scrooges. Who else is supposed to take care of the little things? The holiday cards had to be sent out, the gifts had to be bought and wrapped; we had a few dinners with friends, and a party or two to attend. I mean, all of that on top of our already crazy lives…
John: All I’m saying is that you do too much and in the end you always, always, always get sick and say how “next year things will be different”. How, Jen, is it going to be different next year; tell me.
Jen: (after only a few seconds of thought) Okay, Mr. Know-It-All. Next season you’ll pick the photo to be used for the holiday cards. You’ll be responsible for ordering them, typing up a little family letter to go along with each card, and stamping and sealing them as well as addressing them before mailing them on their way in time for Christmas. You can schedule our family holiday portraits & choose what the kids will wear in them. And you can also create the list of gifts we’ll give to our family and friends, not to mention wrap them nicely. Then you can spend some time pondering what to serve during our get-together dinners, and what to wear for the parties we may attend. Oh yeah, you’ll also need to have a few extra gifts on hand for the ‘just in case’ moments when somebody extra happens to come along. I’m sure I’m forgetting a lot of other important details but I’ll be sure to draw up a spreadsheet of what to do and exactly when it should be completed to keep you on track – I’ll do all that just as soon as I’m better and off of this damned couch! Next season I expect to be stress and flu-free simply because you’ll be taking all of these things off of my plate so that I can focus on the other little things in our lives. Any questions, Sweetie?
John: (grumbling under his breath) How the hell did I get myself into this shit? I should’ve just kept my mouth shut.
Jen: What was that?
John: Nothing, Honey. I was just saying how jolly it’ll be to help you out with this.
Jen: I’ve got the flu.
John: Again??
Jen: What do you mean ‘again’??
John: This is the second time in a month you’ve had the flu. The first was right before Christmas, and the second, hello?, right now. This happens every year. You always do too much around the holidays, you need to pare down your obligations and not worry about all the little things.
Jen: Well, sure, I’d love to ‘pare down my obligations’ but that would just make us look like bah-Humbug Scrooges. Who else is supposed to take care of the little things? The holiday cards had to be sent out, the gifts had to be bought and wrapped; we had a few dinners with friends, and a party or two to attend. I mean, all of that on top of our already crazy lives…
John: All I’m saying is that you do too much and in the end you always, always, always get sick and say how “next year things will be different”. How, Jen, is it going to be different next year; tell me.
Jen: (after only a few seconds of thought) Okay, Mr. Know-It-All. Next season you’ll pick the photo to be used for the holiday cards. You’ll be responsible for ordering them, typing up a little family letter to go along with each card, and stamping and sealing them as well as addressing them before mailing them on their way in time for Christmas. You can schedule our family holiday portraits & choose what the kids will wear in them. And you can also create the list of gifts we’ll give to our family and friends, not to mention wrap them nicely. Then you can spend some time pondering what to serve during our get-together dinners, and what to wear for the parties we may attend. Oh yeah, you’ll also need to have a few extra gifts on hand for the ‘just in case’ moments when somebody extra happens to come along. I’m sure I’m forgetting a lot of other important details but I’ll be sure to draw up a spreadsheet of what to do and exactly when it should be completed to keep you on track – I’ll do all that just as soon as I’m better and off of this damned couch! Next season I expect to be stress and flu-free simply because you’ll be taking all of these things off of my plate so that I can focus on the other little things in our lives. Any questions, Sweetie?
John: (grumbling under his breath) How the hell did I get myself into this shit? I should’ve just kept my mouth shut.
Jen: What was that?
John: Nothing, Honey. I was just saying how jolly it’ll be to help you out with this.
Labels: John and Jenn
posted by Mama's Moon at 1:17 AM
4 Say it:
hahahahahahaha Yea Right!!! I'd like to see all that happen! Instead, he wont do it, you'll wait till the last minute thinking he'll do it...and then have to rush MORE. hahaha
Wait...actually....I'm wrong. Who am I kidding, that conversation will never go anywhere, and next year will be per usual.
This year as I was getting sick a couple of days before Christmas instead of brushing it off and doing the last minute things....I said to Mike, THAT'S IT! YOUR DOING ALL THE CHRISTMAS SHOPPING FROM NOW ON! Of course there was only like 2 or 3 things to buy, but still....HE did it!
Yeah, but will you really be able to relinquish that control? Will you trust him to design the holiday card? To wrap the presents in anything other than a brown paper bag?
Hope you're feeling better!
It's National De-Lurking week and since y'all are on my blogroll, you get a "hello!"
That is the reason I don't do squat for the holidays...no help. Plus I'm just a scrooge and say 'eff em all"
Jenn - I know that if I were to ask John for help he would more than likely give me 110% and really try hard to please me, so in that I couldn't complain. But the control-freak in me would be wiggin' out bc, well, men just can't do things with the same flair that women have.
Jill - You're absolutely on point; relinquishing control and trusting him enough to make the right choices. It's scary because, really, it's a representation of us...(sigh)
Sarah - "hello!" to you too! Glad you stopped by. I'm with you. Next year I'm just gonna say "Bah!" to it all and vacation in Hawaii!!!
Post a Comment
<< Home