It’s that time of the year again, and no, I don’t mean that in a good way. This last month of the year does not only mean Christmas and New Year’s, but it also means family coming over and ruining that peace you had all year long.

Holidays are all fun and games until you find out your whole family is coming to your house. There’s nothing more stressful than waking up early in the morning to cook food for everyone and to clean the whole house. I’m not sure about everyone’s mom, but my mom likes to leave everything spotless. From the floors, to the chairs, to everyone’s room- everything has to be clean.

No matter what the holiday is- if it’s Thanksgiving, if it’s Christmas, or even if it’s New Year’s, households get crazy. Senior Jazmin Villanueva says that her family once had “Christmas at [her] house and it was a complete chaos.” She would also have to clean the whole house, and by that she meant “WHOLE HOUSE.”

Senior Lilly Solis knows this struggle as well. She states that her mom and dad wake up “around 5-6 a.m.” while she and her brother “wake up around 8-9 a.m.” Not only is it a pain to wake up early to cook and clean in preparation for the family to come over, it can also be really messy once the family arrives. Don’t get me wrong, I love my whole family and spending time with them, but once we are all in the same household, things can get pretty chaotic.

Elizabeth Preciado, 2016 alumni, says that when she “and her cousins were younger, it would be chaotic.” They would all “be running around” or they would be by the Christmas tree “trying to guess what gifts they got” but now that they’re older, they just “go and sit in a room and talk.”

Villanueva says that her “room is where everyone puts their coats, bags, and any other belongings.”Not only that, but her basement is also where “everyone hangs out.” As messy as that seems, she says that the “real mess is present time.” The very awaited opening of the presents, which for her occurs around midnight. I hope that we can all agree that opening presents is hectic-wrapping paper is everywhere and some family members just don’t know how to properly rip open a box. Not only that, but there are many plastic bags being passed around where the wrapping paper gets stuffed into and once you think you have everything in the bag, “bam!” more wrapping paper appears from under the couch.

The whole holiday mood is over once everyone leaves, but that doesn’t mean all work is done. Just like we all got up early to clean, we all have to also get up the next day to clean. Nothing is worse than having to throw away all that wrapping paper and having to clean up all the cups and plates from the night before. Also, those dishes aren’t going to wash themselves, which means standing in front of the sink for at least an hour trying to wash everything. Just like Villanueva says, “The clean up is also a headache because you have to clean the whole house again.”

Although holidays are fun, cheerful and a way to spend time with your family, all the planning that goes into them are as hectic as trying to put up the Christmas tree.