The big day is over...the mince pies are gone (but dont worry theres still enough turkey to sink a battle ship!)so how was your Christmas? Statistically Christmas holidays are the worst time of year for causing arguments, especially between partners. Being confined to a house with people you know but dont like (rather than the ones you dont know but Do like which might actually be fun!)is a receipe for disaster...read on!

So did your Christmas pass without incident or did Granny slurping her soup too loud irritate you to the point of bursting? Did those insufferable brats, oops I mean your darling neices and nephews, run around fuelled by fizzy drink and chocolate overload? Did your boyfriend / husband / partner suddenly be seen by you in a new light when they slobbed in front of the television watching the umpteenth repeat of Mary Poppins whilst they were actually avoiding doing the washing up?

Im guessing that to one of those questions (or a similar one) that the answer will be YES! So why does Christmas cause such a turmoil for us? There are several plausable explanations:
1. We are forced to spend time with people we rarely see (and like even less)
2. Expectations of Christmas always exceed the reality - no snow covered mountains appear when you pull back the curtains in the morning. Everybody doesnt buy each other perfect presents...how often have you smiled falsely and said "thats a lovely jumper / tie / pair of socks dear" while wondering how much you will get back when you take it back for a refund after Christmas!
3. On a normal day we can walk out the room / house to escape for a few hours if we are in a tense environment. But more often than not the other room is taken up by the kids on their playstation screaming at the tv, or the spare bedroom has great-grandma snoring away after her 4th mince pie and 5th glass of sherry. And dont forget virtually everything is shut on Christmas day so no chance of escaping to the shops!

So just boxing day to get through now then...!

Roll on going back to work! Im off to play with my new MP3 player!

James