“Cheers To Dysfunctional Families”: 30 People Share What Ruined Christmas For Them This Year

My dad passed on Dec 14 after a long battle with Parkinson's. I am pretty much flat broke, my car is in pieces in my garage, I haven't seen my children in nearly a year, and I am trying to pull up my bootstraps and care for two people on take home wages that are below the poverty level for one person.

But, I currently have a roof over my head. So I've got that going for me, which is nice.

Me, I’m getting sober from several substances, I’m a mess right now, Shakey and sweaty and s****y. I was able to rise to the occasion but I was sick thro it all. It was good tho, I haven’t been sober on Christmas in at least five years may be six. Even if I was was a mess and looked and felt like a dump truck of burning diapers.

Step brother.
- showed up late
- complained about the food, gifts, decorations, etc
- was loud and obnoxious the whole time
- hit my elderly cat and left after I socked him in the face with my fist

Cat tax.

Finding out you aren’t important to people that you went above and beyond in friendships for.
Having only 20 quid to get through to new year.
Desperately trying to hold it together around a mother with a fondness for alcohol.
Having a massive infection in my jaw while the d***s make me sick.
But none of that really matters much today, my dog died last night so I just feel broken.
But I’ll put on the brave face, eat the Christmas dinner and appreciate what I do have.

Our dog got sick out of the blue last Friday and we took her to vet first thing Saturday morning. All the blood work pointed to cancer and so because her outlook looked so horrible we decided to let her have her forever nap. I will never forget it was a lovely solstice morning. It was peaceful and she wasn't too aware but the weight of it really hit home this week. It's like I'm stuck in a bad dream. I'm trying not to bawl today and my husband is the sweetest at trying to boost my mood. Christmas was Olive dog's favorite - she loved opening presents and getting new toys and treats. I know there are so many people out there who have lost a family member or a fur pal this year and I can only send you internet hugs and sympathy. Raise a glass to those who have passed! May 2025 be gentler to us all!

My dad bought my mum a pencil sharpener.

She has a lot of hobbies.

None involve pencils.

Having cancer kinda put a damper on it. But on the flip side it's probably why my mom hasn't yelled at me this year lol.

My grandmother died this morning. She had a stroke last night.

My little brother died a few days ago. He committed s*icide.
My other little brother also died the same way a few years ago.

Caught my wife cheating. Lied throughout our entire marriage. Lied to our marriage counselor about this and convinced me that it was just my insecurities making me suspicious about her “friend”. Saw the texts last night when I went to give her her phone cause she missed a call from a different friend while in the bathroom. Opened her phone only to see the texts right there. I’m crying at work at the moment.

Needing to put my cat down yesterday, he had a seizure at 12:30am Christmas Eve that put him in a bad way, he was already an old cat but we were hoping he was on the road to recovery. Come sunrise, he was walking around but seemed lost, like his eyesight had gone. Then by the afternoon he was struggling to hold himself up on his legs and was in a lot of pain, it was hurting us all seeing how miserable he was.

By the end we had to come to terms that we had to let him go and we took him to a vet and said our goodbyes. Such a painful moment, though we tried to enjoy Christmas regardless. just feels emptier not having him here, I still keep expecting to see him chilling in the back garden.

Glioblastoma.

My spouse was diagnosed over the summer and we were completely blindsided given his age and we found this because of a persistent headache after a cold. Clean MRI after radiation/chemo. Thought we could breathe for the holidays. Double dose of chemo decided to cosplay as The Grinch. A week and a half out from the last dose and still feeling like c**p. We have been through hell and just wanted a decent Christmas. We just went through the holiday motions for our kid, I could’ve taken it or left it this year.

F**k cancer.

My dad not realising that our silent Christmas dinner is all because of him. He is mean and negative to me and my sister all year round and just expects us to beg him to please oh please spend time with us, which he then spends watching tiktok on his phone.

My sister has a life so she is spending Christmas elsewhere. Im so jealous. Next year, life or not, i am not spending my next christmas in such uncomfortable silence. I'd rather be alone.

Cousin’s 14-month-old died in her sleep Friday night/Saturday morning.

Two of my family members had to work today, my cat pooped under the tree, the refrigerator started making a loud strange noise at like 3 am, and the oven died.

One of my best goats passed away suddenly, with no warning, pregnant with babies that should have arrived in just a week or two. Worse, she was the last living goat of a line that traced directly back to my first goat, almost twenty years ago. She was so young too. The weather has just been too crazy; pneumonia is probably what got her, it can k*ll in 12 hours or less, some types.

Severe depression and not having much money. I miss being a kid… things were so much simpler! Still, wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and the best! Hang in there to all those struggling with personal/financial issues. Love yall!

My wife wanted new wooden spoons. She told me and also wrote it on her list for me. She also told her mother. And she went on our family secret Santa and added wooden spoons to my wish list(???). So today, she opened wooden spoons from me, her mother, and my secret Santa also got me wooden spoons. 12 all together. I'm a little bit annoyed, lol.

An idiot in a Range Rover t-boned my car and then threatened my partner, child and I.

My 14 year old step-daughter's father moved 3,000 miles away last year with his new wife.

Minus one trip last summer, she hasn't seen him much in the last year and a half.

He calls up my wife and says he wants to see her this Christmas and he will buy the plane ticket. Wife says she will help and pay for half. He declines stating it's his gift to his kid. She agrees.

The tickets he buys are the worst possible ever.

She departs San Diego at 6 am, as an un-acompanied minor. On christmas eve! Which means we have to get up at 3:30 am to get her to the airport, go through the paperwork, of which there is a lot and all by 4:30 am to get through security and on her plane at 5:45 am.

WELL.. the poor kid gets stuck in Dallas due to weather OVERNIGHT and ALONE, and didn't arrive into Connecticut until Christmas day, at 11 am California time, or 2 pm Eastern.

Wife and I were stressed all night worrying over her.

He is an idiot and never thinks of how his decisions will affect others. He put his child through sitting in an airport overnight instead of flying her out a couple of days earlier.