Coming to terms with the Christmas Flu

We are suffering from a nasty case of the Christmas Flu. And while there is no vomiting involved, it is equally as trying for Mom and Dad to deal with their children being striken by it.

The Christmas Flu refers to the nasty behavior, insane energy, and general I-forgot-how-life-at-this-house-actually-works mentality that tends to appear just before Christmas and lasts...hopefully not much longer. The flu is caused by too much candy, too many relatives, too many visits, too many new things, and basic overstimulation on every level of life you can imagine.

Are there any fortunate souls out there whose children haven't fallen victim to the Christmas Flu this year? My guess is that it hits everyone at some level. It doesn't matter if you're a spend 5K family or a second hander Christmas family. I just think the electricity that's in the air at some point glitches in the kids and makes them insane. Unfortunately, I think the only cure is time.

Last year I had a hard time with this. I remember sitting on the floor in the laundry room crying (maybe a bit of Christmas flu myself?) because the kids were being absolute deaf animals. My husband came in and sat on the floor with me and said "It's Christmas. They're kids." I was probably over reacting to their behavior...I'm sure they weren't all as uncivilized as I was making them out to be, but they were certainly different.

This year, I approached it differently. Not that the fact its Christmas gives them license to be completely out of control, but accepting that things will be different helps me to deal with it. Things are a little more insane, ears are a little deafer, and I do a bit more love and logic-ing than I normally have to do. But its not going to last forever. It's just the Christmas Flu. This too shall pass...Life will get back to normal. And then we can joyously await the arrival of the Birthday Bug. :)