Holiday break-ups

There is never a good time to break up a relationship. But it's even more tricky around birthdays and the holidays. And here we are, smack dab in the middle of the holiday season.

I have been faced with this dilemma twice. The first time, I waited until after the holidays to break up. I'm not sure exactly why. We were spending the holidays apart, so it wasn't hard to sweep the issue under the rug. When we returned from our respective homes, I realized how unhappy I was and called it off.

The second time, I called it quits mid-December. This decision was made partly in part because I was supposed to fly north to meet his parents around Christmas. I felt like doing that would be too insincere since I really wanted to break up with their son, so I called it off before the trip. Neither of these decisions were easy.

What do you think is the best way to handle a break-up around the holidays? Should you do it before or after holidays, birthdays and big events?

Have you been in this situation before, either as the one doing the breaking up or the one being broken up with? How do you think that situation was handled? Would you do it differently?