SNL Nails Most Moms Everywhere With ‘Christmas Conversation’ Skit
From the opening telltale sound of that FaceTime ring, the anxiety started.
And I knew it was a skit!
But it still made my stomach sink.
I think the reason why this week's SNL skit, "The Christmas Conversation" has been making the rounds all over the internet today is because it rings so true!
This is the exact conversation people all over the globe are having with their families right now.
And let's be real: No one wants to disappoint their mom. No one.
Not only do we understand that she's really missing us right now, but also because, as an old bumper sticker I saw in the 90's very aptly stated, "My mom's my travel agent. She's been booking my guilt trips since birth!"
When Mom is disappointed, she will often make that fact known...and sometimes in the most devastating of fashions.
Let's face it, most of us would rather be together than apart this holiday season. Regardless of where we stand on politics, masks, (insert this week's divisive topic here)--this year has sucked for everyone! And when things are sucky, you kind of just want to go home and be with the ones you love---wherever home and however family looks for you.
We are missing one another.
But I think, beyond that--and all jokes aside, moms are really feeling the loss.
It's not a secret that encoded into most mothers' DNA is a need to protect and comfort. It's hard for us to do that from afar. We want to be able to see, hug and feed the bad stuff away.
And I can completely understand that drive, which sometimes defies logic, science or reason.
On the flip side of this coin, I think all of us, as kids, understand what the young women depicted in this skit feel, too; the need to keep themselves and their loved ones safe, and to follow the recommendations of the people who are supposed to be in the know.
So when the subject of "The Christmas Conversation" is brought up, at least in my case, I feel it on both sides.
Adding to that, my own family's...let's call it "flare for the dramatic" around the holidays, and I was both laughing and wincing through the entire performance.
(I'm pretty sure I've actually heard some of the phrases used in the skit uttered out loud by my own relatives at one point or another--not only this year but in years past.)
"I never visited my own mother enough. I guess this is my punishment," says Kate McKinnon's character at one point. Then she suggests that she will fly to her daughter and "quarantine in the plane bathroom," while her husband (played by SNL host Jason Bateman) suggests he'll wear "his racquetball goggles to keep the virus out of my eyes."
"That's not how it works!" screams their daughter, exasperated.
While the conversations border on absurd, the writers and actors thankfully bring it back around to a place of common ground; love. And the skit ends with a heartwarming message of love, despite differing opinions or disappointment.
Hopefully our own holidays will also come back to that place, and end with that sentiment.