You Are Not Doing the Holidays Wrong: Caregiver Burnout, Grief, and the Weight of This Season

Burnout isn't your fault.

The holiday season is often described as joyful, magical, and full of meaning. And for many caregivers and death-care workers, it is also exhausting, emotionally complex, and heavy in ways that can be hard to explain.
If you’re feeling worn down, overwhelmed, or burned out this time of year, you are not alone—and you are not doing anything wrong.

The holidays hold both beauty and heaviness

As I write this, I’ve just returned from a 10-day visit with family. We all came home sick, without enough sleep, and trying to get back into routine. At the same time, I’m doing my best to create meaningful holiday traditions for my young children: planning gatherings, getting outdoors (even in freezing temperatures), holding space for community because it matters deeply to me.
This is the paradox of the season.
Many of us genuinely look forward to certain traditions: decorating, gathering, familiar rituals that anchor us. We also carry the very real logistics behind those moments—physical labor, emotional regulation, competing needs, time pressure, and fatigue.
It can be beautiful and overwhelming at the same time.
That tension doesn’t mean you’re failing. It means you’re human.

The kids with Santa.
Sprout has enough hair for a tiny fountain ponytail and it is adorable.

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