This has two distinct phases:
Phase One optimism
Incurable optimism on the part of at least one person that the "Season of Good Will" has the power to somehow magically prevent arguments/fights between all those people in the family with well-known socially
dysfunctional personal qualities and/or
antagonistic issues with other
similarly-minded family members.
Phase Two realisation
That same senior
family member hates being wrong about anything and gets annoyed that nobody kept the peace after all.