Parole Officers are the only ones able to celebrate the holidays. That's cause their caseload drops because half their clients inadvertently put themselves in jail.
As a social worker I saw the same things happening, but I had to fix them, to mitigate the damage to the children.
( Except once when Mama was in prison. Then I got to write glowing reports about how much better the kid was doing since Mama went to the pokey. )
It's a dangerous time for substance abusers in recovery too. Or ordinary people that buy into the commercial hype.
My wife is driving me nuts cause she believes you have to get all this stuff done or you are a complete failure. Sound familiar?
Me, I got p.o.ed early this year due to the illnesses going around.
So hang in there, it'll be all over but the fighting this time next week.
Christmas is a time you need to get back to basics and shovel the fluff away or you'll miss it's meaning. ( Maybe it's time to take my 58" two hander sword out and practice in the front yard. That's one way to maintain good relations with the neighbors. )