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973741 tn?1342342773

Post Holiday Blues

Does anyone get the blues after the holidays?  There are lots of possible causes and I think we should talk about it.  I'm going to list mine and tell us what yours are.  
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495284 tn?1333894042
We put up about 32 feet of Christmas decorations and lights.  The artificial trees go out into the mall hallway.  Before we put that up we have to move all the other products to a different location(these are usually items sold spring summer and fall).  End caps are filled with Christmas sale items from ads.  Now we are moving all the stuff back to their original spaces and Christmas 2018 is all packed up and put away!

I never put up one decoration this year,not even a tree.  Hubby and i shopped 2 days before Christmas and got it all done.  My daughter had another surgery on the 21st of Dec so that was priority.  Hopefully next year i wont be such a scrooge!
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You've had so much going on and it is understandable how you felt this Christmas.  How IS your daughter?  Hope surgery was a success.  hugs
She is doing well other than the hot flashes that just dont make her happy!!!  lol
Hot flashes are miserable to bear that's for sure.  It's good to hear she is doing well otherwise.   At least all the surgeries are behind her now.  Hugs to you both, my friend~  
Strangely, I can relate to the hot flashes. lol But I know dramatic hot flashes for young women are a big yuck!  I am also really glad to hear she is doing well otherwise.  May it keep on that path for FULL remission and recovery!!!  
649848 tn?1534633700
I guess the holiday blues were somewhat universal this year, then... I had them too, only I did really well right up to Christmas Day when my husband and daughter got into a disagreement (it was really my daughter's fault for being insensitive).  She's the only family we have here, so once that happened, the holiday was pretty well ruined.  

After that I was in a pretty big hurry to get decorations down and forget about the holidays, except for one "tree" made out of lights that my husband made outside... it's mounted to the flag pole and sits up in the air so you can see it from a distance, but I love seeing it on those mornings when I can't sleep and I get up to look out the window.  There's a picture of it in my photo section from 2017 if anyone wants to see it.  Anyway, I hated to take that down because it lit up the dark mornings...

I did put on some weight over the holidays this year, too, which I'd been determined not to do because I was doing so well with losing before Thanksgiving... I know a lot of it is stress eating because I'm eating things I don't even want and it sometimes actually makes me feel ill - not to mention the guilt that goes with it...

Cold weather and short days haven't done anything to help me get through it all any more quickly, either, though I'm working on it,  slowly, but surely ... the days are getting longer if only by a minute or so/day!!
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Well leave it to me to be cold and uncaring!!  I dont experience the blues but i know many do.  I think working retail has hardened me even more as the holidays have gotten so materialistic to so many people and it makes them not so nice to deal with.  We listen to Christmas music all day everyday starting the day after Thanksgiving.......

On a positive note, i was more than blessed to spend Christmas with our family.  That day made all the above complaining i did worth it~
I don't think that makes you cold and uncaring... I totally agree with you about people making the holidays so materialistic.  The past few years, I've been pretty "ba humbug" about them - not really holiday blues, just not interested because all people care about is how much money you're going to give/spend on the them, which takes all the fun out of it.   I want to give people what I want to give them, whether it's something I purchased or hand made for  just few cents and I'd like to think either one would be equally appreciated because it's the thought of giving that counts not the cost.

I love Christmas music, but I'd have to tune it out, as I'd go positively batty listening to it constantly, all day, every day for an entire month... lol
I wouldn't like it if all it signalled is more work.
Not sure about the more work?  Do you mean making things for gifts?  I make a lot of things, as I work a lot with wood, leather, fabric, plants, etc, so it's not work because it's not something I have to do.  I'm always making things and giving them as gifts is one way to let people know I care about them. This year, the main thing I did was ink pens (I have some of those posted in my photos section) because those are something that everyone uses and I was able to come up with a type of wood and pen style to suit everyone on my list.  :-)
No, I meant if I worked retail, and there was a constant and consistent link between hearing Christmas music and having lots of people in the store that were exhausted, demanding, annoyed and sneezing.
At that point hearing Christmas music would be like Pavlov ringing the bell for his dogs, it would be a negative even if I heard it in the car.
Yes, I agree with you; that's why I'd have to tune out the Christmas music long before Christmas...  :-)
Barb, I hear ya. Family woes can really ruin holidays and sometimes the traditional pattern of that family dynamic can make us dread it.  I'm cheerful and determined to be light hearted during the holidays. Some days I have to pretend but overall it is pretty genuine.  My husband has a hard time. Not completely sure why but every year starting a couple of weeks before Christmas he gets really mopey.  It lasts until a day or two after Christmas.    His dad did die the week before Christmas 5 years ago but I feel like it happened even before that.  He had a tumultuous childhood and has some good and some really bad memories  during his youth at home with his parent and siblings.  I kid you not, when his siblings sit around and reminisce now as adults, they say things like "remember how dad used to whip us with switches til we bled (laugh laugh) and then we figured out that you could snap the switches he kept for it and they'd break when he was hitting you and he'd have to stop (laugh laugh)".  And then someone would glumly say "ya, then he started taking his belt off to hit us  instead . . .".  I kid you not.  Husband got wrapped up gifts that were his older brother's old clothes. But then he had happy memories too (I guess).  So, for him, holidays are funky and he does a lot of thinking about the past.  Me?  I'm just tired from trying to make it special for the kids and sad when it is over.  

I like the pavlov's dog analogy with Christmas music and retail.  lol

SM - my Christmas was nothing like what your husband must go through... that has to be pretty traumatic for him as I do remember being switched and hearing the "whiz" of the belt being pulled through the loops... though the memories don't specifically surface at Christmas.  I used to think about the past a lot and it affected my present too much.  That, and other circumstances, prompted me to seek counseling so I no longer have that problem so much.  

There's been a lot of stress this year, but my daughter is an adult and should not have behaved in the manner she did; even she knows that and although she's apologized, that doesn't change the fact that she ruined Christmas.

The pavlov's dog analogy is pretty good, isn't it?  :-)
Why do adult kids act like such babies sometimes?  Sorry she was rude and ruined Christmas.  They are always our kids but at some point, we have to expect them to be responsible, civil and mature adults.  
134578 tn?1693250592
Just making it past Christmas this year was the thing. Our best farm cat disappeared (probably because of being eaten by a coyote) and our son was having a bad time because of hating middle school, and we rushed from event to event and didn't have time for anything. Now my Christmas lights are still up (though not to look like a jerk I don't turn them on) and I haven't put away the ornament boxes, and maybe sometime when the wind is not so bitter, I'll do something about it. I did get the bills paid on about January 1, only four of which were late, so that picked me up. I guess you'd say that I had the holiday blues during the holiday, not after, this year.
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Oh no!!!!  You lost a kitty.  It's the not knowing that drives you crazy.  We had a cat for 17 years that left and never came home.  I was so upset. She was a Grandma cat, you know, and I thought if it was her time, she deserved to be loved through it at home.  It drove me crazy for weeks looking for her.  

I know about feeling funny about Christmas stuff still up.  Our neighbors are no fun and pack it up fast . . . some like Dec. 26 and others at least by New Years Day.  I mean, come on people.  I totally get leaving lights having all year unlit just because they are a pain to put up.  So, maybe you can consider that.  :>)  Just leave them until next year!

I'm sorry you were blue DURING the holidays and I'm hoping middle school gets better.  :.(  Your boy is adorable and things will click for him.  I just know it.  I have faith in this!

good for you for paying your bills Jan. 1.  Working on that.  
Anyway, so sorry about your cat again.  That truly stinks!
We put out flyers yesterday in the near neighborhood, and in mailboxes. No calls, not even from someone who saw him dead on the street or being carried off by a coyote. I was quite sure back on the 22nd when he didn't come for dinner that he was gone, I even walked around the back field in the dark, calling and crying, when I had seen him not ten hours earlier. But he is a cat who is in your face at mealtimes, so it just seemed certain. And then I had to hide it from our son through Christmas, because he was not having a good time, and that was really tough! But I did sort of hope against hope that one of the neighbors would call and say "Hey, your kitty has been hanging around in our barn for three weeks!" or something. No calls, though. By now I'm more used to the sad idea, just hate it though, and feel guilty. Like your story, this was an older cat and he had some kidney issues, but also like you said, he should have died at home on the sofa, if he was going to die. I feel like I should have taken better care.
Oh, AB, I'm so sorry to read this.  We have a lot of coyotes here, too, and if, in fact, that is what happened to your boy, please try not to blame yourself as this can happen in the blink of an eye no matter how attentive or careful you are.   I agree with SM, it's the not knowing that's the hardest to take.  

I will still hold out hope for you that someone will respond to one of your fliers and contact you, no matter what the circumstances.   At least then you'll know.  Again, I am so deeply sorry.  Hugs honey.  
Thanks, Jade. I keep hoping also, but really hope is fading.
BOOOOO HOOOOO.  I hate that.  I attach to my pets in such a big way that I sure do feel a loss when something happens.  As much as I would for some people.  Probably shouldn't say that but it is true.  We nurture and care for them like our babies. How did your son take the news?  

I try to think of my cat as knowing how much I loved her until the end. That makes me feel better . . .  a little.
I felt the same about Jade, SM.  She was our baby, our child; she made up our family.  

Not everyone feels that way about their pets, but if they do, I don't think it's wrong for you to say you feel as much of a loss as you do with people, because I feel the same, we are not alone; I know many others do, too

I'm so sorry for your loss, too, SM.  Even if it happened long ago, your sadness still comes through loud and clear in your words.  

I can't imagine Jade just disappearing and never knowing what happened.  That would of driven me crazy too.  Hugs
Son didn't realize until after New Year's that he hadn't seen Crackerjack for a while, and took the news better than he would have before or during Christmas, which had been a big downer for him in other ways. For a few days after he began asking if I'd seen Crackerjack lately I acted like I was also puzzled and thought maybe he had gone to live at the neighbor's. (A different neighbor's unwanted cat has been coming over and hanging around at our farm, and our kitties were feeling the heat from his aggression, so it would not have been entirely far-fetched for a cat of ours to pack his bags and decamp, though Crackerjack was so attached to us that it was overall a pretty ridiculous story to tell my son.) Anyway, me acting puzzled and saying I wondered it he had been stolen or run away, kind of deflected the pain of my son realizing he could also have died. I feel terrible, Crackerjack was a loving and trusting boy, and very charming. I'm so glad 2018 is gone. 2019 cannot possibly be as bad.
I see Crackerjack was the kitty who slept and ate with your son.  Those pics spoke a thousand words, I can why he was so attached.  Crackerjack looked adorable on your porch, too.  He was a super cute Tuxedo kitty.   It's clear how much you loved him.

You did the right thing telling your son a little white lie.  You're a good Mom, AB.    
Oops, not the same cat.  Sorry.  You have two that look similar.  It was Sesame sleeping and eating with your son.  The rest I had correct.  I especially stand by my last sentence.  xo
Thanks, Jade. In fact, Sesame was Crackerjack's daughter. Crackerjack was the last of that beloved group, and we are all really down about this evident loss.
973741 tn?1342342773
COMMUNITY LEADER
Girth.  I eat like a fat elf all holiday long.  Now it is double time to get back into the jeans.
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You know, tonight I am totally Jonesing for some chocolate, to the extent that I even thought of going to the store and buying Oreos. Shameless, right?
Resisted the Oreos. Had two fortune cookies and a beer instead.
two fortune cookies and a beer.  lol.  I needed a fix so bad yesterday that I opened up stuff I had to make cookies and ate the choc. chips out of it.  I mean, really . . . I sort of have a problem.  Maybe I should just get a six pack and that would help?  
I think anything indulgent can make me stop thinking so hard about sugar, at least for a while, and beer did the trick last night. Something fatty that isn't sweet works also, I find. Today I ate some Roquefort cheese, the rich French kind made of ewe's milk, on crackers, for lunch. The fat made me (marginally) stop craving the sugars. I've been out of Dr. P. for a couple of days and have been patching in the caffeine fix with coffee and the sugar fix with fats. (Actually a green salad with high-end olive oil would taste good to me tonight, and might help me get back on track if I also take some magnesium.) Ah, what will I do when the rich foods bought for the New Year's Day party are all gone?
973741 tn?1342342773
COMMUNITY LEADER
Bills.  It always seems like a great idea when gift buying.  But it all adds up in a big way.  Easy to get distracted from the whole total of spend during the holidays.  And then the bills come in.  And I see that 'great idea gift' sitting in a corner.  Grrrr
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973741 tn?1342342773
COMMUNITY LEADER
I get the blues every year when I take the holiday decorations and particularly the lights down. Not sure why other than the obvious of the coziness of the lights.  I force myself to do it and am probably the last one you know who does.  Then I have to transition with a super corny snowman mantel with blue snow flake lights so I don't spiral into the depths of despair over an 'uncozy' house.  :>))
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I feel the same way about my Christmas tree, and esp. the lights. Love to see it in the house over the holidays. This year I was annoyed I had to take it down too soon after Christmas (January 15th!) because I needed to write a check for a furniture store and my new check books were stored in a cupboard behind my beautiful tree. Shucks.
Argh, dang you had to take down Christmas before you were ready.  I'd probably have army crawled around the to the back of the tree, shimmied up the side of a wall, used my outstretched leg and big toe to open a cupboard and nab the check book before taking down the tree before I was good and ready!  ha ha.  No seriously, I really do get blah once it is all put away.  My snowman fireplace mantel helps.  Do you have anything you can put some string lights up?  I have, for example, in another place in my house (and people are going to start to think I'm weird here and want pics of my strange decorating) .  . .  I have this winter greens garland and I found red bird string lights.  They are pretty to me and that's all that matters, right?  I like to sit by it and admire my attractive greenery with red bird lights.  I'm sad and happy that I'm not the only one that gets blue when the decorations go.
We have a string of red Chinese lanterns, and a string of red chilis. I put them up at Christmas but leave them up a long time, since neither of them are actually Christmas lights. The lanterns are especially pretty. Keeps the blues away, too.
AnnieBrooke, right on!  LOL  My soul sister with the lights around the house.  :>))
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