How did Meredith Masony's family handle the Hallmark Christmas day fiasco?

In that “Hallmark Christmas” decorating day I talked about, my family handled it like… real humans, not movie characters.

I went in expecting cozy music, cocoa, and kids lovingly hanging ornaments. What I got was fighting over who got which ornament, someone crying, someone storming off, and me trying not to lose it.

We salvaged it by lowering the bar: fewer decorations, more laughing at the chaos, and accepting that perfect holidays don’t exist—but real memories still do.

Have you ever had a “this was supposed to be magical” holiday moment totally derail on you?