A very harried Christmas: Majority of parents feel pressure to make the holidays perfect for their kids

It sounds like a lot of parents will be having a not-so-merry Christmas this year.

A new survey conducted on behalf of HP, and reported by SWNS, aimed to find out how far parents will go to make the holiday special for their children, and let’s just say many go above and beyond, and it’s stressing them out. 

The survey of 2,000 parents with school-age children finds that 77% say they feel pressure to top the holidays of previous years. Parents are so worried about making the holiday perfect that 66% have pulled an all-nighter to make sure they get everything done, with the average parent spending five days not getting to bed before midnight. 

Where is all this pressure is coming from? Thirty-seven percent blame Facebook, with 34% feeling pressure from TV and another 30% blaming it on other family members. 

As for how far they’ll go to impress their kids, some parents say they’ve recreated the sound of Santa’s boots on the roof, while others have covered the floors with baby powder to leave Santa’s footprints for the kids to see.

The survey also asked parents about the questions their kids ask them over the holidays, with the top question being, “Is Santa real?” Other popular questions include: “What if we don’t have a chimney?,” “How does Santa deliver presents to all the kids in one night?” and “How does Santa know if I’ve been bad or good?”