Whose Family Do We Visit, His Or Hers?
Posted by Datepad in HolidaysEvery year, millions of North American families go through the agony of deciding who to spend Christmas Day with; his family or her family. Add children, divorce and remarriage into the mix and the logistics become even more of a nightmare.
Before my husband and I had children, it was rather easy. Like a lot of us, we alternated. One Christmas Day with his family, the following Christmas Day with my family. However, when we had our first child, things became a bit more problematic. To add to the predicament, my mother moved hundreds of miles away to an out of the way little town up north.
We decided to turn what some saw as a drawback into an adventure. Instead of driving five hours in potentially dangerous winter conditions, we opted to take the train. Our two and a half year old son was bursting with excitement about taking the train to visit his grandmother and surrounded himself with picture books of trains thinking that he could decide which one we would take. He settled on an old fashioned steam engine.
The trip ended up being well worth the time and effort. The scenery was spectacular, the company was terrific and we had a great time.
The next few years we spent Christmas Day with my husband’s family without issue.
Until the Christmas from hell.
Our children were now four and seven, and we had relocated about two hours away from my husband’s family due to work related matters.
The morning started out well enough. The kids were up at 5 to open their stockings, a tradition we started that allowed my husband and I a few more hours of shut eye, though of course we overheard every tip toe and every whispery giggle.
We had our traditional Christmas breakfast followed by presents, followed by…WHINING! AND MORE WHINING. I detest whining, but in all honesty, I couldn’t blame the kids for being cranky. It was Christmas and all they wanted to do was stay home with their new treasures. Instead, they had to get all dolled up to visit the family.
We went, reluctant kids in tow, to spend the afternoon at my sister-in-laws house. Once we got there, the kids perked up (more presents will do that), and we had a good time.
The drive home was another story. A two hour drive turned into a five hour white knuckle adventure courtesy of a major winter storm that dumped twelve inches of snow over the entire area in less than twelve hours. As we crawled homeward in whiteout conditions, grateful for the rear lights of the truck in front of us we decided right then and there, never again!
No more traveling on Christmas Day. It was time to start our own traditions! And we have. We always have the same breakfast, followed by finger foods throughout the day, and a full course dinner late in the evening. We watch movies, play board and video games and just have fun spending uninterrupted time together as a family.
If I had to choose one word to describe our Christmas Day it would be “relaxed”. No one needs to be in a hurry because we’re not going anywhere.
Resources: This article was written by Shawn Wilson, a member of the customer support team at Datepad, where internet dating is always free. Datepad has a massive directory of informative dating articles along with a great list of dating site reviews on their dating blog.
