Tuesday GTKY

[186momx]

What is your least favorite holiday and why?

Which holiday school break is the hardest on your family?

[186momx]

4th of July is my least favorite holiday. It doesn't get dark until 10:30 here and people start lighting fireworks off in my area at 4pm and keep going until about 2am. It is hard on my dog and most of the time I have to work the next as the beginning of the month is my busiest time at work.


I think spring break is hardest. Everyone seems to go off and do stuff and I'm working 60+ hours a week. We also always have crap weather during spring break here.

[librarychica]

Easter. I’m not religious as an adult but was raised treating Easter primarily as a religious holiday so the secular part holds little meaning for me. But then I still feel guilty. We always go to my in-laws because they have a big egg hunt, and they’re several hours away. So the kids get all sugared up, my MIL always gives them baskets of stuff we don’t need and candy, then we get home late and everyone is grumpy for school/work on Monday.

The last few weeks of summer in late July/August. It’s hot as hell and there is no promise of relief until October. No one wants to go outside because the outside is like the inside of a sweaty sock. Even the beach is too hot and the kids are getting restless.

[rere]

1. Easter, which sounds bad because the significance. But it is getting all dressed up for church and then having to go to moms for Thanksgiving meal 3.0 because she cooks that for every holiday if the rest of us want it or not.

2. Spring break because the weather is unpredictable for planning. Even at the beach, if you're not way down in Florida, you are likely to have cold water and cool Temps.

[mommyatty]

1. I don’t really know. We almost forget Easter at this point. So maybe that one? I’m a nut for holidays in general so I guess the one where I’m just meh is probably my least favorite. I still like it though.

2. Fall break. That wasn’t a thing when I was a kid, so I’m always surprised by it, failed to plan for it, and feel guilty that we are not doing anything for it yet again.

[supertrooper1]

Christmas has become my least favorite holiday. I used to love it, but ex-H slowly ruined it. And now with the parenting plan I have, it's different every year for my time with DS, which then changes how Beau and I spend time with our families. And his family is so indecisive about their plans, that it makes it hard to plan with my parents. Gifts have also gotten out of control.

Spring break is hardest on our family. I agreed to split spring break in half with ex-H hoping it would get the divorce finalized quicker. That leaves us with 4 days to do something, but our annual motorcycle "race" has so far always been planned on the dates that I have DS, so we can't even go on a short vacation. DS and my mom are going with us this year, but we stay in a crappy hotel and it's not what I would consider a vacation.

[waverly]

1. My least favorite holiday is Christmas. I have simplified over the years and then added stuff back in as I wanted to or could. But bottom line, I don't like to shop. I would very much like to spend my time doing other things. My daughter does like to shop. And my husband wants the kids to buy for us and each other which means multiple trips shopping without mom, without dad, without brother. And for the extended family.  Exchanging with IL's was done 6 weeks late because they had Covid, and their gifts were offensive.  Add in a few birthday parties and ugh. I also dislike the cold and darkness. There is pretty much zero reason to leave the house that time of year. I've done a LOT of the Christmas traditions. For example, we drove through 600 light displays during Covid. We've done breakfast with Santa and other Santa stuff. I just don't feel like there is much more to do here maybe a play and they have now become expensive so it is $400 to watch a Christmas Carol or Elf. And I don't even like the Christmas Carol. I would aim for the ballet (not Nutcracker) and maybe one of the Circque Christmas shows. That's about all I am interested in for the holiday. Sorry this was long, but I've struggled with Christmas since becoming an adult basically. I've tried everything to enjoy it, and I just don't.

2. Summer is hardest on our family because the break is so long. The kids don't get to see their friends as much and they feel lonely. Rec summer camps are pricey and the kids have mostly outgrown them anyway. So now we are in the specialty camp world where they are pricey and 9-3. The options are the same Rec camp they have always gone to and are bored at, spend $500 a week on random speciality camp, or mold in my basement on screens.  It also requires extensive planning on my part to make sure they don't mold in my basement, and they still do somewhat.  

[sdlaura]

I wouldn’t really say I have a least favorite holiday. I don’t like the high expectations on moms especially to make holidays perfect and Pinterest-worthy, but I’m pretty good at rejecting that pressure. We live on the opposite coast as our families so we don’t have any expectations about what we do on holidays or who we spend them with, so that’s kind of nice. We’re usually on our own for Christmas which is fine.

I find the Christmas break the hardest because it’s so long here. Usually about 3 weeks. And this was the first year in 12 years that I was able to not have a baby or toddler home with me the whole time while I tried to juggle work for most of it. But this next Christmas break we are taking advantage of how long schools are closed and things being quiet at work between Christmas and new years and taking a big international trip. 2 nights in Fiji, 12 nights in New Zealand, and 3 nights in Australia. DD won’t miss any days of middle school, while the elementary schoolers will miss 2 days of school. I feel like many of my friends are like renovating a bathroom or something right now - we will stick with our outdated bathrooms and go to New Zealand instead with the $ we would have spent

[mae0111]

1. I’m really not a fan of Halloween. It’s. Lot of work for like nothing. I hate trick or treating and my kids are both ALL IN on trick or treating. No one ever chooses their costume until I start screaming that they’re about to be on their own. I’m not creative at all so there is nothing homemade. It’s the worst.

2. Breaks are different this year for us. We are about to head into 2 weeks off in March in Massachusetts. Today is 42° and drizzling. It’s miserable and raw and cold. It looks like we might luck out with some good weather next week, but 2 weeks of yuck with no school to break up the day would be tough.

[waverly]

mae0111 , oh yeah I forgot about that. We were having a big discussion on Halloween here lately. Baby and toddler years were the worst. Husband traveled for work, I would take the kids for a couple of houses, answer the door all night, try to cook dinner. People would ring the doorbell long after hours were over, and we were trying to eat dinner.

School age years were better. Husband doesn't travel anymore. No more tantrums, kids could walk themselves. Went with neighbors since the toddler age. It was fun. Started leaving out a bowl so I don't answer the door anymore.

5th grade- total nightmare. DD couldn't decide on a costume. DD had no one to go with (got ditched by the neighbors who no longer want to go with us). Ended up going with a friend that I invited and the other neighbor girl that we are having trouble with her bullying DD.

Next year, if DD is all over the place again, then I am going to tell her we are skipping it and going to a nice dinner. OR trick or treating in another neighborhood because we need to avoid the bully girl.

DS started getting invited to drop off Halloween parties and it is the best thing ever.  I wish that could start happening for DD.  

[twinmomma]

I think I’m on the Easter train. As a kid it was a big deal. My grandparents loved across the street from the church so they hosted a huge meal and Easter egg hunt for all the grandkids. We actually got dressed up and it was a special day.
After my grandparents passed away it kind of just became a weird floating holiday with no real plan. We aren’t religious, the church part was purely for Grandma’s sake. And we only have the kids for Easter every other year and it just feels like a hassle to make special plans for a big meal with just my parents and siblings.

As for what break is the worst, I’d say February break is tough. It’s always immediately before my giant work trip so I can’t go away, weather is always crappy, and it just seems like a pain. It seems like it’s a ski vacation for families who ski and the rest of us just hang around. April break is much more fun and seems like the time most people go away.

[waverly]

twinmomma, we don't have a February Break. We get Presidents day off and that is it. I like not having a break because there is no place really worth driving in Febraury here and we aren't near mountains so there is no skiing here. Yes there are a couple of man made ski hills, but it isn't worth a week off school.

[erbear]

Least favorite holiday (of the majors) is Easter. Not my jam.

School holidays are not hard for us. Kids are teenagers, I’m a teacher so breaks the same. I love school breaks.

[AdaraMarie]

As a single mom, Mother's Day is the worst.

School breaks aren't really an issue for me because my kids can stay home alone now if needed and I have been WFH since covid when they were just starting to age out. I don't really like the time from the middle of February until the end of March though because they have a bunch of random days off and spring break. It feels like they barely fo to school. I also never plan anything for spring break because of weather.

[dglvrk2]

1. Halloween. I echo waverly and mae0111 for reasoning. The pressure is so intense. It can bring out the worst in people where I live.

2. I don't have trouble planning for any breaks in particular. I'd say the last two weeks before school starts are the trickiest. H and I are usually up to our ears in work. The fun camps are finished and the Ds are restless, so....

[twinmomma]

waverly, We have a week in February and a week in April. I think a lot of other places in the country just have the March spring break to split the difference.

[waverly]

Mar 6, 2024 7:46:07 GMT -5 twinmomma said:

waverly, We have a week in February and a week in April. I think a lot of other places in the country just have the March spring break to split the difference.

Yup we are always the end of March. Growing up I think they tried to tie it to Easter but gave up since Easter can be so variable.

[mae0111]

My kids used to have February and April. I hated February. We don’t ski, and that’s really all there is to do here. Most people go to Florida. I always felt like the kids would just be hitting their stride and getting into a rhythm at school when Feb vacation hit.

I like that they’re having a break in March, but 2 weeks is a lot when you’re not traveling. Our schedule is filling up a bit now - DD1 and DH will go to visit MIL in the middle of the break, DD2 has a tournament that same weekend - so 4 games in 2 days. We have a couple of day trips planned and some appointments. And they will want to relax. I’m hoping some friends will be available at different points, but most are traveling.

[mommyatty]

My kids’ spring break is next week. It feels really early this year.

[polecat8]

Easter always seems to sneak up on us since it is variable, so I think that is my least favorite holiday. It usually happens before tax season ends, so I host my family to help my Mom out (she's an accountant). And DH's family wants to do Easter on that Saturday, so I will be toast by the end of the weekend.

We don't really have any long school breaks here (Xmas is 1-2 weeks depending on day of holiday, spring break is Fri-Mon around Easter). There is always a day off when the grading period ends (every 9 weeks) - which could be a random day in the middle of the week. I think these are harder on my kids because I'm usually working while they are off. Then DH gets frustrated if the kids are loud or are bothering me while I'm on a call.