Should I break up with my girlfriend before or after Christmas? You might find it surprising how many people end up asking themselves this question during December. Holidays are highly emotional times, making the already difficult task of breaking up with someone even worse.
Which is worse, breaking up with someone before Christmas which could potentially mean they are depressed for the holidays. Or breaking up with someone after Christmas, after spending the holidays pretending to still be in love and leading your partner on?
It’s a lose-lose situation in my opinion. If you have the option of breaking up in November, do it. It’ll save so much heartache and trouble. If you’re only realising two weeks before Christmas, then this is the dilemma you face.
There are pros and cons to either choice. Interestingly, I think a lot of it is dependent on timing. It sounds silly, but can we put a deadline on when to break up before?
Breaking up before Christmas
I think that if you’re still within the first two weeks of December, you should break up with your girlfriend before Christmas. There’s enough time between the break up and Christmas for her to semi get over it. Or at the very least accept it.
There will be enough time for her to say “Alright, let’s get myself together and enjoy the holiday.”
The pros to breaking up before Christmas is that it feels morally right. If you know you want to break up with your girlfriend, then it’s not nice to string her along. It’s also hard to pretend your relationship is fine and dandy through the holiday, knowing you’re planning on breaking up with her straight away afterwards.
You won’t need to exchange presents with her, and there will probably be enough time for her to return whatever gift she’s gotten you. It’ll also be enough time for her to tell her family you won’t be visiting.
She’ll also have her friends and family to help her get over the breakup. The holiday can act as a distraction. You’ll also be free to spend the holiday with your family and friends to help you get over the holidays.
You’ll both be able to start the New Years with a fresh start, rather than ruin the New Years with a breakup. You might even go to a New Years Eve party and kiss someone really hot. But it’s probably wiser to take time to deal with the breakup.
Breaking up after Christmas
The longer you leave breaking up with your girlfriend the harder it gets. There are some obvious things you shouldn’t do. For instance, don’t break up with your girlfriend on Christmas Eve. Or Christmas Day. Not even Boxing day. Of course, don’t break up with her on New Years Eve or New Years Day either.
That’s a lot of days you can’t break up with your girlfriend on. The point is you don’t want to break up with your girlfriend on the holiday itself, because you’ll ruin her holiday. You’ll also be giving her a reason to dislike it in the future. You have to be careful not to break up with her too close to the holiday either for the same reasons.
If there is a week before Christmas, suck it up and break up with her in the New Years. Is it a morally bad thing to do? Possibly. But like a white lie, it’s better not to ruin her Christmas. If you leave it too last minute, it also makes things incredibly awkward for her to explain to friend and family.
Plus you never know, maybe the Christmas spirit will make you realise you do want to stay with her.