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.