When I was first married, money was a struggle. Our first Christmas together was tough because my level of enthusiasm was much higher than our level of income. I wanted to celebrate the way I always had, with a decorated house and gifts under the tree. Every time I came home with a new decoration, my husband would just get quiet. It didn’t come out until later that he was having this internal struggle between loving the look of joy on my face as I celebrated and dreading the look of our bank account. Every decoration or package I bought gave him more and more holiday stress.
I never wanted to stress my husband out, and you probably don’t want to give your husband undue holiday stress either. After all, the holidays are better when everyone is merry. Knowing what gets to our husbands is the best place to start, so we went straight to the men for this one. Here are the 3 things that men say cause them holiday stress.
1. Spending Too Much Money
I’m sure this doesn’t surprise you. If your husband is like mine, he probably thinks the kids have too many toys anyway. And buying more presents and adding to the credit card bill is the last thing he wants. So come together on a gift budget this year, and stick with it! You can enjoy the holidays without breaking the bank. It’s the moments you spend together as a family that you will remember, not the gifts you buy. And after Christmas, if you agree that you would’ve liked a few more gifts under the tree, adjust your budget to put a little away each month.
It's the moments you spend together as a family that you will remember, not the gifts you buy. Click To Tweet2. Your Stress
Let’s face it, most wives carry the burden for Christmas for gift-giving, gift-wrapping, parties, and meals. And this can cause stress. Which can cause you to be short with your husband. Which causes him stress, and the vicious cycle spins out of control. This year, focus on an area you have been responsible for and “outsource” it. For example, buy a turkey or ham already cooked so it’s one less thing you have to stress about and one less factor to contribute to marital conflict.
3. Put Up and Take Down
Some men get really irritated when they have to spend entire afternoons unwinding strands of Christmas lights or hunting down the ornaments they forgot they packed away in the corner of the attic. Consider only putting up half of what you did last year to cut down on the workload and frustration or give him a heads-up that “next Saturday, I’d like to put up Christmas” so he can put it on his schedule. Make your expectations clear and once he does what you’ve asked him to, don’t keep coming up with more tasks to add to his list. Put the job aside and use that extra time to go out and do something fun as a couple.
Your turn. What stresses your husband out the most this time of year?
