Take a deep breath, Christmas is over until 365 days. Your to-do list may have dwindled, those awkward moments with family are forgotten, life is moving on. Kids are happy with new toys. The fridge is full of Christmas dinner leftovers. You probably have a stack of new books to read. Football bowl games are on to please the husband/boyfriend/significant other. Grandma and Grandpa got their fill of their grand-kids. Even pets probably got a special treat from Santa. Life has the potential to be really good, kind of quiet post-Christmas.

You can unwind with wine, or sip on the herbal tea you got in your stocking. Take in a pint of your favorite craft beer. What is there to worry about? Another Christmas is in the books. Done and gone.

But wait – you’ll want to take a drink for this. Christmas may be over, but the holiday hangover is here.

Starting with, cleaning up Christmas. That weekend spent decorating your house, putting up the tree or lights while listening to Bing Crosby – that all has to come down. Preferably, before Valentine’s Day. You have to find the boxes that stored everything, sort through Christmas decorations, make sure the lights don’t get tangled, and wrap the ornaments so they don’t break. The real Christmas tree goes in the trash, vacuum the living room fifty times to clean up the fallen pine needles. Setting up for Christmas is more fun…… than putting Christmas away. Fill your cup, you’re going to need it.

Those credit card bills, might be sky high after December 24^th. Bigger than you expected. Lost track of how much you spent? Visa, MasterCard, and American Express kept track for you. So do husbands. That alone might drive you to the extra glass of wine, or an extra shot in your Starbucks double vanilla latte. Then, take a look at your savings account, or checking account. If you kept within a budget, kudos! Take a drink. If your budget exploded and became non-existent. Take another drink.

Because right around the corner, is January, the loneliest, darkest, coldest month of the year if you live in the frostier regions of the world. January is tough, not as kind as May or June. Artic temperatures. Wind chills in the negatives. Snow and snow drifts, and under all that snow, is ice that won’t melt until spring, if April wants to be warm. Those lucky souls that escape to a warmer climate or an island, your Facebook pictures make us feel warm and fuzzy. Thanks for sharing too. We can drink to that.

It’s practice for New Year’s Eve, the one night you might stay up past midnight with friends or family. So why not have an extra glass of red wine. Marathon training for the big event. Or, have a cup of tea, Red Bull, soda, or fruit juice on hand too. Last New Year’s I had a little baby and was breastfeeding, it was a one drink minimum for me. I may take a dare and have two at the stroke of midnight, if I’m awake by then.

Happy Holiday Hangover, may yours not be as bad as mine!