The DU Lounge

...September about Christmas.

It comes, I think, from my late mother-in-law, who was obsessive/compulsive, and who made Christmas into this bizarre intense ritual.

I recall, that when I showed up for my first Christmas with my (future) wife's family - I'd been living with my future wife just about 2 months, definitely a new boyfriend - I politely brought a bottle of wine, and it turned out I had about 20 gifts, which was embarrassing. This was in spite of the fact that I don't think they really liked me, particularly because I was older than my future wife and we were, as they say, "living in sin" in their minds. (They were decidedly not happy when their daughter married me; but eventually we all made peace, but still...)

Christmas got worse and worse, especially after we had kids. My brothers-in-law started to really resent Christmas, as the hour upon hour upon hour of gift giving left the kids, my sons, my nieces and my nephew bouncing off the walls near midnight and somewhat bored by "stuff." One Christmas we were faced with a choice: Bring home the gifts or bring home the Children, and we had a pretty big station wagon.

A residue of this upbringing remains with my wife's sisters. My wife was nearly in tears this evening after 50 or so texts from her sisters. We figured a way to stop the notifications on group chats. She was getting really upset. She couldn't think. She was threatening to skip the whole thing.

It's pretty unhealthy.

I actually don't know how my wife came out of that family. She's sane.