Welcome to the 20 Stages of the Christmas Season If You're a Parent

The Christmas season, while full of beautiful twinkling lights and fun traditions, can be truly overwhelming — for anyone. Once you have children, though, the true stress of Christmas becomes blatantly apparent. There are gifts to buy, glass ornaments to be hidden away for the foreseeable future, Santa stories to, well, embellish, and this is all done with the understanding that neither you nor your partner has slept since the birth of your first child (no matter how old the kids are now).

Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, sure, but it's also a roller coaster of emotion for moms and dads. If you have kids, you'll be all too familiar with these 20 stages of the Christmas season as a parent.