‘Tis The Season To Share The Mental Load – Keeping Christmas Merry, Not Messy |
Every parent knows that the merriment and magic-making surrounding Christmas requires time, energy, and often more capacity than any of us have.
Upended schedules, school plays, non-uniform days, PTA events, parties, end-of-year work deadlines, gift-giving, cooking, baking, entertaining – the mental load, which is hard enough to juggle at the best of times, gets thrown into a pressure cooker.
And if one of you assumes the other is happy to manage everything, it won’t take long to reach breaking point.
It’s no wonder the first working Monday of the new year is often referred to as “Divorce Day”, when the strain over the holidays gets too much, and old wounds and buried resentments resurface.
For most couples, divorce isn’t on the cards. But the holidays can still churn up emotions we’ve managed to bury for most of the year; resentment and frustration can boil over and explode during this intensified time.
If you find yourself feeling withdrawn, short-tempered, unsupported, unseen and unheard – you’re not alone.
Take a step back and think about this while wearing your professional hat: would you ever host a major event without a detailed plan? Would you ever launch a new product without a communications campaign? And would you ever do the whole thing alone?
Think of your household as a mini........