There’s something about the holidays that brings out people’s weird habits, and they only seem to show up this time of year. They’re not usually anything major, just small habits, but they’re enough to make everyone in the room feel exhausted by it all. Here are 9 holiday behaviors that drive almost everyone a little crazy, even when they’re laughing about it later.
Saving every scrap of wrapping paper
Almost every family has a person who refuses to simply open Christmas gifts. Instead, they have to collect every strip of paper and fold it because, for one reason or another, they’ve decided that they’re going to hold onto every last scrap.
It doesn’t matter that pieces might have torn edges, as they’ll simply tape them flat to use later. As for gift bags? They’ll be restuffed with tissue paper from last year, even when they’re wrinkled beyond repair. Everyone else is left waiting with their half-open gifts to make sure they don’t hand over anything that’s too crumpled.
Running the same holiday movie marathon on a fixed schedule
You might have someone in your family who treats holiday movies like a lineup that can’t be changed, and they’ll play the same films in the same order. Nobody’s ever allowed to start watching them early because, apparently, that would ruin the flow.
It gets even worse if you talk during the film. Even though everyone has seen the film more than a dozen times, one person expects you all to be silent while watching. They’ll rewind to watch the same parts again without hesitation because they take these festive films so seriously.
Running the holiday playlist like a personal radio station
If they’re not controlling the movies, then they’re almost certainly controlling the music. Someone will decide they’re in charge of every song played from Thanksgiving to New Year’s, and they’ll switch songs the second something doesn’t match whatever feeling they’re going for.
Sometimes they’ll write the playlist down, sometimes they’ll just have it memorized, but either way, they stick to it. Of course, you could try to play something else. But your song mysteriously gets skipped before the first verse even finishes. They’ll claim it’s because it “doesn’t fit” or something along those lines.
Directing a full photo shoot before anyone can eat
It happens right when everyone’s starving. One person decided that right then is the moment for them to become the holiday photographer, and they’ll start dragging people into groups or shifting lamps around to fix the light. But it gets worse. They’ll keep taking photos because someone blinked or wasn’t smiling all the way.
While that’s all happening, the food gets colder by the minute. Yet the photographer insists the photos will be completely worth it once they get the perfect shot, although they very rarely are. The impromptu photo session simply makes everyone even hungrier than they were to start with.
Enforcing a strict gift-opening order with extra rules
A few houses have a rather official system for opening gifts, usually one that was invented decades ago. The designated opener is often the youngest, and everyone has to wait for them to start opening presents, without any doubling up or tearing into something early.
Jumping the line certainly isn’t happening. Anytime someone forgets to pause for the next person’s turn, the rule-maker reminds the whole room of how the family is “supposed” to do the gift-opening ceremony. Don’t even bother questioning the routine because they’re too stubborn to allow any changes.
Swapping out every dish & towel for holiday versions
December is the time for a full kitchen reset. At least, according to some people. The normal plates disappear the moment that the boxes come down from storage, and whenever you try to use a regular mug, you’ll be forced to drink from a festive one instead. Apparently, it doesn’t matter that the mug doesn’t sit right on the handle.
Even the bathroom towels get immediately switched over to the seasonal ones, regardless of how the whole stack feels a little stiff because they only get used once a year. Nobody argues about it anymore. It happens automatically, and you have no say in the matter.
Forgetting to thaw something important until the last minute
There’s always that one moment when everyone’s halfway through prepping, and then disaster strikes. Someone opens the freezer to find that the main dish is still rock solid. Cue a small panic. There’s no excuse good enough to explain why someone forgot to thaw the food until the last minute.
It becomes a whole group problem almost immediately. Plan ahead and double, if not triple, check that everything is thawed out according to plan. You don’t want to be that person who gets blamed for ruining Christmas and dinner.
Overstuffing the fridge with leftovers nobody plans to eat
That’s not all for food. After the meal, leftovers usually pile up in the fridge and make it look fully packed, even though half the containers only have a scoop of something inside. Some family members insist on wedging dishes into any space they can find, leaving shelves slanted or crowded with containers that won’t sit flat.
Of course, someone will claim that the food is all going to get eaten. But a week later nobody can tell what anything is without opening it, and then the arguments start about who’s going to throw what out.
Leaving half-drunk holiday drinks all over the house
Holiday gatherings usually involve a weird pattern where everyone keeps losing their drink, whether that’s cocoa or hot cider. They’ll carry it around for a bit and then set it down without thinking. With just a few people, that’s okay. But when it’s a huge group of you, you’ll be left with cups in corners nobody even walked toward earlier.
Eventually, it ends with the sink filled with three times the number of cups used on a regular day. Guess who’s going to have to wash all those out?
7 Christmas Traditions Families Swear They’ll Never Skip Again
Quite a few of these traditions make a sudden return the following year because the switch ended up feeling rather strange. Here are 7 Christmas traditions that families swear they’ll never skip again.
7 Christmas Traditions Families Swear They’ll Never Skip Again