We hadn’t even finished the Thanksgiving leftovers when I heard Bonnie let out a disparaging observation: “Oh, great, now we gotta start planning for Christmas.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m not looking forward to Christmas. Too much work.”

I should have simply nodded and left the room. Could have. A smart man would have. Not me. I asked, “What work?”

She shot me the “Oh, really, you don’t have a clue” look.

“We gotta decide when to put up the tree, get down the decorations from the attic and then put them up ... this house needs to be cleaned and I have to figure out when we want to have folks over ... plan out a menu for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and go shopping for food ... get the dog to the groomers ... don’t even get me started on shopping... the cards, I forgot about the cards, got to get them out and you’re gonna sign them this year ... still haven’t told me what you want ... when is Hanukkah anyway? ... where did we put those candles? ... do we need more wrapping? ... so when are you going to put up the tree?”

(Note to self: Start buying decaf eggnog)

Bonnie’s reaction wouldn’t surprise the folks at The American Psychological Association, which ran a study designed to explore the effects of stress during the holidays and found that women experienced a much more dramatic spike in stress levels over Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas than men.

•When asked if their stress levels were higher than normal over the holidays, 44% of women said yes (as opposed to 31% of men).

•When asked if they felt able to relax over the holidays, only 27% of women said yes. In contrast, 41% of men strongly agreed that they felt relaxed during the holidays.

• The APA also determined that in order to cope with stress, women most frequently turn to food for comfort (41%) and drinking as an escape (28%).

Says the APA, “Women are much more likely to shoulder the work burden during family celebrations. During Thanksgiving, women are nearly twice as likely to report that they will cook (66 percent of women versus 35 percent of men), shop for food (52 percent of women versus 32 percent of men), and clean dirty dishes (70 percent of women versus 41 percent of men). 

Men, the APA found, are nearly twice as likely as women to report that they will watch football (26 percent of women versus 46 percent of men). 

As someone who adopted this holiday, not because I believe in the religious connotations surrounding Christmas but because I believe in peace on earth, and goodwill toward men, and the gifts you get on Christmas are way cooler than the ones I ever got on Hanukkah, I admit it’s all a lot more challenging than replacing a candle in the menorah. More expensive, too. 

This might explain why 45 percent of Americans in a Think Finance poll said the holiday season brings so much financial pressure, they would prefer to skip it altogether.

A few years back the Asda Mumdex survey found that women worry so much about planning and spending for Christmas that by July, nearly all of them are stockpiling presents. The survey also found that by July:

• 41 percent have already bought Christmas cards.

• 13 percent have already bought decorations.

• 22 percent have food stored away for December.

They’re six months early with cards and decorations? We’re lucky to get the decorations up and mail out cards before opening the gifts.

As a way to relieve her stress, I was going to suggest to Bonnie that she consider planning for Christmas a bit more ahead. Don’t wait until after Thanksgiving. Start shopping after Easter. Or better yet — right after the previous Christmas. To make it easier on herself.

I was gonna suggest that. But I decided to just nod and leave the room.

Barry Lewis is a longtime journalist and author who lives with his wife Bonnie in the Town of Neversink. He can be reached at      barrylewisscdemocrat@gmail.com.