Sophie White: It's almost Christmas and my husband and I are at each other's throats. But if we're arguing at least it means we're not Quiet Divorcing

"We are two weeks out from Christmas, which means that all across the land couples are at each other's throats. Christmas truly is the season of giving - giving your other half massive amounts of shit. The pre-Christmas fights range from the deeply inconsequential (what date to actually put up the tree) to the existential (why do we have to have three separate meats for the Christmas dinner?) to the make-or-break-a-marriage type (whose family gets the Christmas morning and whose family gets the afternoon)."

"The Christmas rows often arise from the fact that you and your significant other each have been raised on very different types of Christmas."

Couples commonly fight in the weeks before Christmas as holiday planning intensifies. Arguments occur over trivial details such as when to put up the tree, and over deeper issues such as menu choices and family scheduling. Some disputes are minor while others threaten relationships. Many conflicts escalate because each partner brings distinct family traditions and expectations to the holiday. Differing concepts of how to celebrate, who hosts which part of the day, and what foods to serve create recurring friction. Awareness of these divergent holiday backgrounds helps explain the frequency and intensity of pre-Christmas rows.

Read at Independent