A new mother has sparked a wave of reactions online after sharing what her holiday season looks like while she’s on maternity leave. In a Reddit post, she uploaded photos of her living room dressed up for Christmas in a way that felt both charming and deeply familiar. The images quickly became a conversation starter about motherhood, energy levels, and the pressure to make everything feel magical.
The woman, posting under the username lil_poundcake_, showed off a space filled with colorful paper chains hanging throughout the room. Alongside the pictures, she summed up her festive project with a simple thought that many parents instantly understood, that maternity leave can mean a lot of time on the couch and a lot of small, repetitive tasks. Her post took off fast, collecting more than 17,000 upvotes and hundreds of comments from people who couldn’t stop looking at the decorations.
For many, the paper chains brought back childhood memories of easy, low-cost holiday crafts that once felt like the height of excitement. Commenters described feeling transported to school days and family living rooms, with some even saying they could almost “smell the paper” just from the photos. Others were impressed by the sheer effort, asking how long it took and whether the chains were truly made by hand. She replied that she cut everything with scissors, starting a week earlier and working on it for an hour or more on most days.
Maternity Leave = Lots of time on the couch = Paper chains! Merry Christmas.
byu/lil_poundcake_ inCozyPlaces
But the sweetness of the post also opened the door to honesty from parents whose maternity leave looked very different. Some shared that their days were defined by exhaustion, recovery, and simply trying to get through the hours. One woman wrote that she had spent that same time period sleeping when she could or fighting sleep when she couldn’t, and that opening gifts on Christmas didn’t even happen until days later because everything felt too overwhelming.
Another commenter described a holiday season that fell apart under the weight of pregnancy, home renovations, and a newborn who wouldn’t sleep, leaving her feeling isolated and disappointed. She admitted she had always imagined a cozy, decorated home once she had a family, and the paper-chain photos felt like the version she had dreamed about. Still, she framed it as inspiration for the future rather than a reason to feel defeated.
The original poster responded with empathy and a reminder that her photos were not a full picture of postpartum life. She said the crafting was tied to anxiety and an inability to fully relax, and that the chains became a way to keep her hands busy and her mind steady. She also shared that even with a partner on leave, the challenges were real, including typical newborn sleep and an especially messy diaper change that left her with pee in her hair and on her face.
How do you balance holiday expectations with the realities of life with a newborn, and what traditions actually feel doable for you right now? Share your thoughts in the comments.
