Mike and Darin kick off the holiday season with a special Christmas episode hosted by Dave Lay, featuring brand-new holiday stories mixed with classic IDS Christmas moments from years past.

The episode opens with one of Darin’s all-time great Christmas party stories — an overcrowded apartment, dangerously strong holiday punch, and a news director who went from politely declining the invite to leading a conga line through a waterbed. It’s a reminder that sometimes the best Christmas memories are the ones that absolutely should not have worked.

Things immediately take a turn when Darin commits the ultimate holiday sin: criticizing Christmas wrapping paper choices in Mike’s house — directly in front of Mike’s wife, Bess. What follows is a tense, hilarious debate over wrapping paper etiquette, marital survival instincts, and the exact moment when a festive room goes ice cold.

From there, the episode dives headfirst into classic holiday chaos:

• Crazy uncles, unforgettable nicknames, and Christmas firecrackers in the snow
• A Santa Claus reveal involving beer, cigarettes, and a basement costume change
• The dangers of shopping for your spouse — even when you follow the instructions perfectly
• Christmas traditions, from pajamas and glitter-covered reindeer to Sears catalogs and Star Wars wish lists
• A malfunctioning Christmas tree that only children can hear buzzing
• The moment Mike forgets there’s a Christmas tree in his house… while cooking dinner

The episode’s title moment arrives with one of the most unsettling holiday traditions ever shared on the show: Christmas butter — including a breakfast-table story so disturbing it momentarily stops all conversation.

It’s a warm, ridiculous, and very Irritable Dad holiday episode filled with family stories, questionable traditions, and the kind of Christmas memories that never fully leave you.

Merry Christmas from Irritable Dad Syndrome.

#IrritableDadSyndrome #ComedyPodcast #FunnyPodcast #DadPodcast
#ChristmasEpisode #HolidayPodcast #ChristmasStories
#FamilyHumor #ParentingHumor #GenXPodcast
#HolidayTraditions #ChristmasChaos

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