We know for sure what day Christmas ends.
Some will say that when their majesties, the Magi from the East, leave their gifts under the tree.
Others, when the sales start.
But would we know exactly when they start?
A few years ago, the socially accepted date was December 6 when, taking advantage of the holiday, families took the old tree, the ornaments, the tinsel and the Nativity scene out of the storage room and began to decorate the house in the traditional red and green colors. even if the true Christmas spirit possessed us the morning of the draw.
Now, it would be difficult to find the exact date: in Madrid, Cortylandia, the
show
of sing-song window display with cute figures that is installed on the façade of department stores, was launched at the end of November, at the same time that the queues for the most famous lottery establishment in Spain, Doña Manolita, were already around the corner. .
In Vigo, the city that has made the lighting of lights a heritage, the start of Christmas took place on November 19, when they illuminated the tree in the Puerta del Sol. In Madrid it was the night of the 24th. In Malaga, the street Larios was illuminated on November 26.
It's not just the lights and decorations.
In recent years, the consumerist maelstrom floods the pre-Christmas calendar, inviting people to buy in advance the gifts that will be placed under the tree: from Singles Day, November 11, or Black Friday, which despite being established on November 25, November already lasts all week, until Cyber Monday, the following Monday.
Supermarkets already display Christmas nougats and sweets on their prominent shelves immediately after All Saints' Day.
Add to this the toasts with friends, the Invisible Friends, the dinners and company lunches that start in mid-December and Christmas seems to last forever.
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“Christmas lights and trees choke me.
Every time I hear the concept invisible friend, I get a rash.
And I think someone should make it clear that the world does not end on December 31, for the peace of mind of all those who need to organize an insultingly expensive lunch or dinner during the month of December, to celebrate a friendship that only meets that month. ”, Elena, 31, explains to EL PAÍS.
Her words are common among a long list of people questioned about her feelings on these dates.
The main complaint is the time: Christmas starts earlier every time.
The second, the general boredom caused by various factors: crowded bars and restaurants, impassable city centers for more than a month, Christmas carols,
“The festivities have become mini-marathons, spread over several days, even weeks,” wrote
journalist and essayist Anne Helen Peterson, author of
I Can't Take Anymore: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation , in the
Culture Studies newsletter.
(Captain Swing, 2021), "they have become seasons in themselves, with their social performances and consumption habits, which oscillate between joy and obligation."
This obligation, hidden behind the imperative that at Christmas we must have a cheerful spirit and appear happy, sometimes generates a feeling of being out of place when the Christmas spirit does not accompany.
The American Psychological Association uses the words stress and anxiety to talk about how this period adds further pressure to try to meet all expectations.
As a family, you have to distribute tasks and try not to get overwhelmed, have a certain foresight to enjoy quality time and even reserve time to be alone
Joaquim T. Limonero, professor of psychology and president of the Spanish Society for the Study of Anxiety and Stress (SEAS)
"Christmas is an intense time for emotions, where both positive and negative ones are heightened," explains Joaquim T. Limonero, professor of psychology and president of the Spanish Society for the Study of Anxiety and Stress to EL PAÍS ( BE).
“One of the factors that influence Christmas weariness is that there is a break in our routines: human beings tend to do the same thing every day, so when our routines break for a period of time that covers more days each year and it is not managed well, it will produce anxiety and stress”.
The psychologist emphasizes that, during Christmas, as at any other time of the year, "everything will depend on the expectations we have" as well as on whether or not we are capable of "recovering our sense of control over the situation."
Regarding expectations, let's start by blaming
How beautiful it is to live!
or any Christmas movie, which usually shows lovely, happy families with mild conflicts that are nothing like ordinary families;
and we end up blaming
sadvertising
, that advertising current whose purpose, in addition to making people lean positively towards a brand and thus sell products, is also to make us cry by touching all the emotional keys: "We have to remember that all of this is fiction," explains Joaquim T. Limonero , "and that families, in addition to being wonderful, are also wonderfully imperfect."
The problem here, as the psychologist explains, is to fall into comparisons.
Our houses are not going to be decorated like in an American movie and, no matter how many good intentions we have, dinners are not going to be perfect, nor are the conversations we have without a nice script in front of them.
And nothing happens.
"To avoid the greatest amount of stress and anxiety that these dates generate, we must have a perception of control," adds the psychologist.
To do this, the best thing to do is organize in advance and make decisions.
“Decide what you are going to do and how you are going to do it.
And agree, without imposing ”.
It is not necessary to go to the four dinners that you have scheduled and, as the psychologist advises: "In the family, you have to distribute tasks and try not to get saturated, have a certain foresight to enjoy quality time and even reserve time to be at alone”.
To respect coexistence, Limonero recommends not getting into discussions.
“If you know that a relative is going to get angry with a topic of conversation, he avoids touching it.
And if he touches it, don't enter the rag.
You don't have to win every battle."
The psychologist also recommends being honest about each other's finances, so that dinners don't choke us.
Single people or those who have chosen families more than family, should also prepare their plans in advance so as not to be sad on those dates.
“Christmas is everywhere,” as the old rocker from the Christmas rom-com
Love, Actually
warned .
And every time for longer.
"Changing the chip", as the psychologist says, during these dates will allow us not to arrive exhausted on January 6.