Christmas with the Brady Bunch. Times Two.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm sure glad Christmas is finally over and done with this year. I don't mean to sound like a grinch or anything, but my family really knows how to screw things up.

I come from a large, mixed family, and by that, I mean my parents are both remarried.
Lets start with my Mom, and Step-Dad's side of the family. Until the day I moved out, I lived with them, my only biological sibling (my brother, who is now 11), and two of my step-dad's kids, both girls, who are now 13 and 16. He also has another daughter, age 25, who is married, with two kids age 5 and 7. Thank god mom and step-dad never had kids together.

Needless to say, when we all get together, it's one big mess, of course, because nobody gets along. AT ALL.

My Dad and my Step-Mom, have a house-full themselves. My step mom has three kids that live with her, two boys age 14 and 16, and a girl, age 11. Step-mom has two other kids. A daughter, who is 29, and a son, who is 26. Like my mom and step dad, they also have no kids together.

For all of you out there keeping track, that brings my sibling count to 10, when you include my step-brother-in-law

Firstly, the thing both of my families have in common, is they all fight, like cats and dogs, every Christmas. It starts out with something small. For example, somebody ate somebody's box of Thin Mints, so an argument starts. Within 5 minutes, guaranteed it turns in to a huge family wide screaming match, and everyone walks out.

This includes me, usually, which means I end up burning more gas, driving all the way back home (my families both live in Windsor, Ontario, and I'm up here in Toronto.)
It wouldn't bother me, if I didn't have to go back, the next day, after everyone seems to have gotten over whatever happened.
But then something else happens, and I end up in a hotel room for the night, because, lets face it, nobody likes a screamy mess.

In short, Christmas sucks, because everyone fights, and my Visa bill is through the roof, every friggen' year.

Fuck this shit.
Next year, I'm going to a bar. =D