Crying at Christmas carols getting out of control

[stealthbanana]

ds will be 4 this week. I remember having this moment of...emotion...when I was heavily pregnant with him and at a carol service and they sang silent night and suddenly just being overcome by thinking about the gentleness and innocence of a newborn baby (I KNOW).

Since then I have found carols progressively more emotional, culminating in, to my horror, this year, where I find myself uncontrollably welling up at ANY carol in ANY context. My kids were watching mickey’s once upon a Christmas this morning and I cried. Michael Bublé came on the radio and I cried ffs. MICHAEL BUBLÉ!!

Have I developed some kind of weird problem? How do I fix this? It’s embarrassing and mawkish. I’ve got a reprieve this year as not doing any in person carol services but will have to wear sunglasses to next year’s at the rate I’m going.

Haha this thread has been v v unhelpful in terms of getting over it advice (I absolutely WILL try the sticking tongue to roof of mouth tho) but at least I feel like I am not a lonesome freak anymore. Thank you all

My mum’s favourite Christmas song was White Christmas. Bing only has to open his mouth and I am off!

Ah, when I was heavily pregnant with my 1st I was a waitress & it was a particularly busy Saturday night. Johnny Mathis ' when a child is born came on. I sobbed for a good 30 mins & my boss called my then Dh to come pick me up. It still sets me off now. I have to pull over when it comes on the radio.

It’s ‘O Holy Night’ for me. And Judy Garland singing ‘Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.’

I usually cry when I take the Christmas tree down. It’s like saying goodbye to an old friend.

Ah thank goodness I'm not the only one. In the bleak midwinter gets me, but the words of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas are real tearjerkers this year when I'll be spending Xmas day on my own for the first time ever.

@LassFromLeedsWithALustForLife

I’ve got an even worse one: I cry at Chris De Burgh’s A Spaceman Came Travelling. Various reasons: Christmas in general, it’s a bit of a spooky, sad song and it reminds of a traumatic life event that happened to me at Christmas when I was young. Seems like at Christmas they play that bloody song everywhere!

Me too, LassFromLeedsWithALustForLife 💐

I lost my Mum when I was 4 and allegedly, not long after, my Dad was playing ‘A Spaceman Came Travelling’ and I burst into tears (I don’t remember this, but like you’ve said it’s a bit of a spooky, sad song. Lyrically it also seems to fit..). Dad was very careful not to play it around me after that and then it came on the radio one Christmas a few years later and I cried my eyes out. Dad then told me what had happened years before when he played the song. When I was a few years older still, my Auntie was taking me to lay flowers for my Mum and we had just stopped off in Co-Op on the way (as you do!) and the bloody song came on the radio, cue me sobbing in one of the aisles 🤦‍♀️ so awkward when you’re at Christmas meals/visiting people, too. I’m sorry that it happens to you too. I am a little comforted that it’s not just me, though, as I’ve not known anyone else with this particular issue!

@stealthbanana

Haha this thread has been v v unhelpful in terms of getting over it advice (I absolutely WILL try the sticking tongue to roof of mouth tho) but at least I feel like I am not a lonesome freak anymore. Thank you all

Could you perhaps try listening to children singing Christmas Carols, etc, when you’re at home and in a good mood, for pleasant associations? Perhaps you could slowly/gently try to desensitise yourself... similar to exposure therapy?

Will just add, a few years ago I was at the cinema and there was an advert set to ‘Tiny Dancer’ with a cute little girl (dancing!) and I cried and cried 😭😭😂😂

Currently sitting feeding my 13 day old baby and your post made me well up so I am absolutely no use to you

I cry at the drop of a hat, as does my DM. Carols can be bad, but most children's singing will do it. One year my choir sang a song by and for AIDS orphans: "We are together, we are family " and I couldn't sing a word.
Anyway, I like to think of it as a Sensitivity Superpower.

@LunaNorth same ! I get really attached to me tree and feel terrible taking it out to the recycling bin. I always get upset about inanimate objects though weirdly.

Ah glad it’s not me, another trigger of mine is national anthems, so any sporting event is also a bit of a minefield. We are expats and I’m trying to tech DS the English national anthem but failing because I can only sing half of it without crying. DH thinks it’s hilarious and refers to it as ‘mummy’s eyes are leaking again’. Although I’ve noticed that he is also more leaky since we had DS, DIY SOS type programs can set him off.

OP theres no hope for you I'm afraid. 11 months of the year my heart is but a swinging brick, but as soon as I hear those sleigh bells I'm done for .
And dont get me started on pre schoolers performing a nativity. Any preschoolers on tv , the radio , shopping centres. I need to lie down !

I'm with you. My little brother died on Christmas Day , many years ago. All Christmas carols have a deep poignancy for me. When my kids were little I'd often be seen weeping at the school carol concert (trying to be conspicuous and failing for the most part!).

It did recede a bit as the kids got older , possibly because at secondary school there is less exposure.

I now put on Kings Christmas carols on Christmas eve and can manage to get through dry eyed (unless too much gin has been consumed, in which case I'll be all emotional).

There's a really sweet Bbc doc with Lucy worsley about the origins of carols. I'd recommend that.

@lighlypoached sorry for your loss, and I hope this festive season is peaceful for you

I cry at everything and carols are no exception! Especially carol services in the big cathedral. Church of England goers really bring it with the singing! At Christmas service at the catholic church I attend it's a little more...informal, and we often laugh at nearby children's in church antics.

Someone has mentioned this already but even thinking about the part of Elf where the dad starts to sing gets me going.