Tis the season when relationships face the ultimate test. Amidst the festivities, a new Christmas dating trend has emerged called Scrooging, where Santa’s sleigh doubles as a breakup delivery service. According to internet lingo, Scrooging happens when your partner bids you adieu to avoid spending on gifts or enduring an awkward Christmas dinner with your quirky relatives. And surprisingly, it’s become quite common. So, if your relationship feels icier than the North Pole, expect to ride solo, ya little love Grinch.
The term Scrooging gets its name from Ebenezer Scrooge – the miserable character from Charles Dickens’ 1843 book A Christmas Carol – who despises Christmas. However, Scrooging is far from a fictional practice. Apparently, There are a few reasons why your partner may want to give you the flick before Santa comes to town.
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One possibility is that your partner has been experiencing a growing sense of apathy within the relationship for a while. Throughout the regular year, they might have chosen to stay together due to convenience or fear of ending things. However, when the prospect of buying Christmas gifts or arranging family gatherings during the holidays arose, that was the final tipping point that led them to decide to end it.
Dating columnist Jana Hocking recently shared her own Scrooging experience, admitting that last Christmas broke up her budding romance. “Last year I was dating a guy and it was going OK,” said Jocking. “But like I said, it was the holiday season and decisions needed to be made. Like, were we expected to spend Christmas together? Was it time to introduce each other to our families? Should we drop a wad of cash on Christmas presents?”
Hocking later confessed that she felt incredibly overwhelmed by the situation, prompting her to end it prematurely. Highlighting the influence of the Scrooging effect, she acknowledged that if the Christmas season wasn’t near, she might have continued in the relationship and even speculated that it could have evolved into a genuine love affair given more time.
With Scrooging season upon us, various outlets advise being vigilant for signs such as cancelled plans, frequent arguments, or avoiding calls. However, if you’re genuinely concerned about a pre-Christmas breakup, it might be worthwhile to evaluate the foundation of your relationship. In this humble writer’s unprofessional opinion, if you feel insecure about your relationship, take the mature approach and initiate an open conversation. And if the relationship does end, take the high road and still offer them the Christmas present you had intended to give. Your karma and spirit will thank you for it.
However, if you’ve found yourself ensnared by a Scrooing, don’t be too hard on yourself. If anything, this situation has unveiled your partner’s true colours, and it’s far better to discover sooner rather than later how they genuinely feel about you. According to Bruce Y. Lee M.D., M.B.A., writing in Psychology Today, this revelation should be seen as a “gift.” He asserts, “The shorter-term heartache of a lonelier holiday season is always preferable to the longer-term heartache of being entrenched with someone who is not the right match for you.”
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