The Monday after New Year's is colloquially called Divorce Day, but it's more than marriages ending. Lots of people in longer relationships, and certainly seasonal holidates, just want to get through the holidays before pulling the plug. That Monday this year is January 5th.

Alone may be better, something better may be out there as well, but it may also be the case that one or both people simply have unrealistic expectations that their TV movie fantasy should be reality.

Divorce is common, nearly half of marriages won't last a decade, and some of it could be because people are on their best behavior until a year after the wedding, but it is often the case that one or the other romanticized the relationship. That obsessive behavior may have been cute in the early going but will get tedious over time. And most lumberjacks working in small towns aren't really the same as big city advertising executives who can split wood so marrying one might not be the solution for your 'where have all the real men gone?' question. If you thought your partner's attitude about finances were out-of-sync while dating but dismissed it as something that would fix itself, you are in for an economic surprise.


Credit: mirrorobserver/Storyblocks

When reality overrides fantasy - people see who they want to see rather than who exists - is when conflicts start and if holiday films have ruined expectations about real life, conflict will seem like a crippling issue. In movies, relationships are effortless outside the inevitable dramatic arc that would usually be resolved in real life with one text message. In real life they happen all of the time. Yet if there is any doubt, an argument when you believe you were promised a fairy tale is going to be a sign things are over. 

Mr. and Mrs. Claus didn't always have it easy. She had a life and career before she even met Santa and they made it work.