Holidays should bring families together. Most holiday movies, especially those about Christmas, seem to be about separated family members doing everything they can to be together on Christmas. My favourite growing up was Home Alone. Every kid loves to imagine he could defend his home against two career criminals and have fun doing it. The family favourite was Planes, Trains and Automobiles, where a man struggles to get home for Thanksgiving. Ironically, one Christmas around my house, being together was the start of the story, not the end.

My favourite comedian, Louis CK, refers to his kids as “buckets of disease.” The end of the year isn’t just the holiday season – it’s the flu season too. While our family put up a valiant effort, one by one we succumbed. It seemed to work by age, with my little sister being the first to stay home from school. Then I got the flu. The parents shortly followed suit.

By Christmas Eve, our whole family was sick. While most families have their treats and eggnog and the rest of the holiday snacks, our living room was more like a field hospital with blankets and Kleenex everywhere. You know your kids are really sick when they don’t even want to open their Christmas Eve present.

By the morning, we got exactly what we wanted for Christmas: our health. The flu seemed to work on a first-in, first-out basis as my sister had opened her gifts already. I knew because she was skating around in a pair of loud, clunky kids roller-skates. I had a goalie-set and was walking around the house, ready for a game, stalking my dad to go outside and play.

The difference for me between Hollywood movies and real life (although there are many, of course), is that at Christmas time, the family being together should be the starting point, not the end. Our Christmas started out unusually and ended up like any other with happy kids playing with their toys and exhausted parents that just wanted to rest. I hope everyone has a great holiday, whichever it may be.

James lives in downtown Edmonton and is a researcher at the Alberta Legislature.