Two-thirds (67%) of people who buy Christmas presents say they typically begin their shopping by the end of November, including 10% who start in October and 14% who start even earlier.
So when holiday plans fall apart at the last minute, it can be incredibly stressful. That's exactly what happened to a single mother who goes by ClypoClimb online.
Recently, she turned to the internet to vent about her daughters' father. He backed out of contributing to their presents, leaving her scrambling with too little money to fulfill the girls' wishlists.
This single mother thinks she's barely providing her daughters with everything they need
Image credits: user25451090 (not the actual image)
And this year, Christmas only made her challenges feel even bigger
Image credits: freepik (not the actual image)
Image credits: prostooleh (not the actual image)
Image credits: ClypoClimb
Christmas stress hits parents the hardest
Christmas requires a lot of planning, organizing, and work, so it can cause quite a headache. But when plans fall apart at the last second, it’s even worse.
A YouGov survey found that in the United Kingdom (where the author of the post is from), 45% of people generally find Christmas to be a stressful experience, with 10% going as far as saying they find it “very” stressful.
However, this burden of stress is not evenly shared, with some groups feeling the strain more than others.
Parents, in particular, tend to have a harder time over the holidays. According to the survey, 52% of those with children under the age of 18 say they find Christmas stressful, compared to 42% of non-parents and parents whose children have already flown the nest.
Even among parents, stress levels are not evenly distributed. Mothers report feeling the burden more than fathers: six in ten moms (62%) say Christmas is a stressful time, including one in six (17%) who describe it as very stressful. By comparison, just 44% of dads report feeling stressed over the holidays.
And while one in six dads (16%) say their Christmases are typically not stressful at all, the same is true for only 6% of moms.
Christmas spending leaves a lot of parents feeling like they've failed
Image credits: Liza Springer / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
Research from the UK has also found that nearly half (48%) of parents or carers felt they had failed their children because they couldn’t afford the gifts their children were hoping for last Christmas.
As a result, 68% of parents said they were leaning toward giving more practical presents — such as schoolbooks, clothes, or bedding — rather than “fun” gifts.
More than three in ten (31%) parents and carers were concerned that their children themselves were worried about the cost of Christmas and family finances. Meanwhile, over a quarter (28%) feared their children believed they had been “naughty” because they didn’t receive the gifts they wanted.
The mother provided more information about her predicament in the comments
