In theory, Christmas is supposed to be a time for family to come together.

In practice, however, for many the festive holidays can prove a fractious and often stressful period beset by arguments covering everything from ill-advised gifts to something as trivial as what to watch on television.

Though there is no doubt there are families out there who are able to celebrate December 25 in peace and harmony, for others, the annual reunion opens up old wounds among siblings, parents, uncles and aunts.

Thankfully, as bad as it may get at Christmas there's always someone experiencing a family drama that dwarfs anything you have to deal with. Nowhere is that more aptly demonstrated than on the internet and, more specifically Reddit, which never disappoints as a source of stories covering the extremes of family strife.

With that in mind, here are 11 family feuds guaranteed to make you feel better about your Christmas.

A woman posting under the handle SecondSwitch sparked outrage on Mumsnet after revealing her laid back approach to Christmas. According to the post, she told her husband from the start of their relationship that she would never "be the wife/mother who hosted Christmas."

"I grew up watching my mother tear her hair out every year at Christmas time, trying to be superwoman and as a result she would lose the plot and ruin Christmas," she explained. As a result, every December 25 she pledged to "buy the children presents" and "make all their favorite food" before enjoying a "nap" while her husband "cleans up." It's fair to say the approach proved divisive.

Overbearing in-laws have proven the bane of many marriages. One such instance came to the fore on Reddit where a mother-in-law came in for serious flack after demanding her daughter-in-law supply her with a key to their new apartment.

"I explained that it is necessary so that it could be used in emergencies," u/Judy34535434 wrote. Her daughter-in-law disagreed though, telling her: "I don't know what kind of an emergency...would require you having a key to our house." Things escalated from there, with the mother-in-law accused of being "pushy." Though she seemed adamant she was in the right, the internet thought otherwise.

A woman found herself between a rock and a hard place after discovering her husband had given away some of her jewelry as a wedding present to a relative.

Saved-Ad7607 explained to Reddit she had been the breadwinner of the family since 2013, with her husband unable to "land a job." However, the woman was left "fuming" after discovering a set of jewelry she considered a valuable family heirloom had been given to his brother's wife by her husband as a wedding gift.

"I was fuming," she wrote. "I very loudly told him absolutely not and gave him 3 days, just 3 days to return the set or I'll stop paying for everything in the apartment."

A woman went to war with her mother-in-law over the latter's insistence that everyone adhere to a formal dress code for their upcoming family Christmas gathering. User Legal_Pay_9408 ended up challenging her husband's mom on the issue and found herself branded "rude" and "entitled" for thinking she could change what was a family tradition.

"This p**sed me off and I said she can wear whatever, but I will be coming in sweats and my kids will be in play clothes," she wrote. The mother-in-law ended up literally laughing in her face at this claim. Merry Christmas one and all.

The daughter of two Harry Potter superfans vented her frustrations at having to center her entire life around the franchise in a memorable post shared to Reddit. "Every Christmas [in] the days leading up to Christmas we have to sit down every night and watch Harry Potter movies," she explained. "So. F***ing. Boring!"

Things got heated after the teen tried to duck out. Her mom "got really mad" telling her: "You wouldn't exist if it wasn't for Harry Potter." The teen fired back: "I don't like Harry Potter! I don't like Star Wars! I hate Marvel Movies. They're all so boring, please just let me have my own interests." It was tense to say the least.

One woman posting as MuffinsMuffins3 was urged to file police charges against her partner after it emerged that he had stolen an Xbox intended for her brother who has a heart condition. According to the post, her brother's condition has "prevented him from living his childhood to the fullest" while the resulting medical bills left her parents unable to afford fancy presents.

Her boyfriend said he took the console to give to his nephew as he too is poor and her partner "felt sorry" for him and wanted to get something to "cheer him up." That excuse fell flat with his girlfriend though, who branded him a "thief" and demanded he pay for or replace the console.

A 16-year-old who increasingly began to suspect a cockroach infestation was the root cause of her breathing problems was forced to take matters into her own hands after repeated pleas to her parents over the matter were ignored.

Writing on Reddit, she explained: "Over this past week I've been keeping the dead ones in bags marked with the date and then the number of cockroaches. There were 118 of them over seven days. I dumped all the little bags on my parents' bed."

In spite of taking such extreme measures, her parents were still not convinced enough to bring in exterminators, much to the shock and surprise of the internet.

A Redditor posting as smeghead9916 angered her parents after refusing to babysit her younger brother following an incident that happened eight years ago. Tasked with babysitting her brother who was just eight at the time, the girl ended up being reprimanded for hiding her sibling's tablet on a "high shelf" to ensure he went to bed.

"My stepmother got it and gave it back to him. She got p**sed at me, how dare I hide his things," she wrote. From that day forward she vowed to never babysit him again, including more recently when her parents asked her to keep an eye on him, aged 15.

A new mom has decided to take a stand this Christmas by essentially going on strike from all the usual duties associated with the holiday season. "For the past three years I've gone to my in-laws for Christmas and I'm always the one cooking," Blueberrybabe wrote on Mumsnet.

"Every Christmas is a very stressful day for me. I feel like a chef and a housekeeper whilst everyone is sitting down saying they are hungry and waiting for their food," she said. Instead, she's planning on staying at home, away from her in-laws, and relaxing with her baby.

A groom-to-be earned the ire of the internet after telling his fiancée he thought "accommodations" would need to be made for her 15-year-old autistic sister, otherwise she would be unable to come to the wedding ceremony. His suggestions included creating a breakout room where she could sit separately from the wedding itself.

He told his would-be bride he was "concerned that she might have a meltdown during the ceremony" despite her never having any previous issues with public events. When his future wife tried to challenge him on these claims, he countered that it was "his wedding too so he should get input." His views have prompted some to wonder whether she should be marrying him at all.

A 16-year-old shared the details of a distressing scenario to Reddit in which her dad has been pressuring her to take a paternity test. "My mum ran away to another country with some guy when I was 8 years old and lately my dad's gotten really sure she was cheating on him long before that and I'm actually someone else's baby," she explained.

"He keeps talking about how paternity fraud is a big issue and he needs a paternity test to be sure he's not getting suckered into raising another man's kid." The girl has so far resisted his demands, which have left her heartbroken and desolate at her dad's treatment of her and the implications the test results could have.

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