If you can't be a good example...

I read in a Jennifer Crusie novel a great quote. "If you can't be a good example you just have to be a horrible warning."This seems to be very apt for this past Christmas. At least in my family. We had drama this year. Drama that started in mid December and is still going on. The hell with the extra holiday pounds. With us we have extra psychological scars.Now I know why some people work in soup kitchens and hospices instead of going home to family. It's gotta be cheerier than what we went through.Now to be fair, the holidays are stressful. And sometimes little things get blown out of proportion to where they take on a life of their own.But that's not the whole story.The first inkling of trouble came in early December. My cousin Lori wanted to know why my brother and I were depressed(him) and mad at her(me).We had no idea what she was talking about. We assured her that nothing was wrong and forgot about it. But she didn't. She went on to inform her mother that my brother was still pining over his crazy ex girlfriend(HA!) and I was pissed at her for something. I still don't know what. Most likely because I haven't congratulated her on having another kid. So her mom called mine to talk it over and let her know that she was neglecting her kids. Just because she doesn't talk to us three times a day doesn't mean she neglects us or doesn't know what's going on in our lives there people.So this was just act I. Not that we realized it then. But more is coming.