It's that time of year again... time for Christmas trees, garland, nativity scenes (not activity scenes- you know who you are!), caroling, and deciding where and how to spend our Christmas.
It is so difficult having our families 2 and 1/2 hours away from each other. We have 7 Christmas' to go to. My mom, my dad, my 2 sets of grandparents, Keith's mom and dad, and his 2 sets of grandparents. Plus, Keith and I would like to start our own tradition.....
Planning for all of this usually makes for a very hectic holiday season.
I shouldn't complain~ I should be thankful that we are both so close to our families and that we have people to share the holiday with. It's just impossible to be at every family function and who's to say which one we miss? With Christmas, pretty much all 7 of these get togethers happen on the same few days...... When Keith and I have kids it will become even more difficult because we will want to wake up on Christmas morning at our house and just be here! What are we to do?
As you may have read earlier in my blog... this holiday season is particularly hard because it is the first holiday without my Grandpa. We were lucky enough to be able to spend alot of time with my family over Thanksgiving. Keith made the decision to stay with me in Decatur and miss his family's Thanksgivings. So, does that mean that for Christmas we should stay here and miss my family's Christmas'? We try so hard to please everyone when it comes to this, but it is just impossible to do! We adore our families and WANT to be with them during this oh-so-special time of year. But driving here and there usually ends up with us worn out and hardly feeling like we had any days off.
PLEASE don't misunderstand me... I LOVE LOVE LOVE Christmas. I look forward to every aspect of it. I love being reminded of the birth of Christ. I love the Christmas programs at church. I love the decorations and lights. I love wrapping presents. I love singing Christmas carols while I clean the house. I love this season!
I just don't know how to handle our travel situations. We have discussed starting a new "trend" after this year. We rotate Thanksgivings-one year we are in Decatur for the entire weekend, the next year we are in Breese and so on..... and then for Christmas we go to Keith's parents house the weekend before Christmas, we stay at home for actual Christmas Day and we go to Decatur the weekend after Christmas. This way each family gets EXACTLY the same amount of time and we aren't rushing from one place to the next.
This is not a perfect scenario however..... it means that neither of us gets to see our families on the actual day. The thought of this breaks my heart. Holidays are the only times that both of us get to see our entire families- all the aunts, uncles, cousins- in the same room.
I don't know what to do. The whole thing upsets me very much. I don't know if our families totally understand because most of them do not have to travel for the holidays. I mean, our families are understanding of our situation, but they just aren't in our shoes.....
If anyone has this dilemma and has any insight for me, I am open to suggestions!
Keith and I have such a hard time each year, deciding when and where to go. HELP!!!
At times like this I wish we could just say "Beam me up Scottie" and "poof" we are at our next location!!!! (NO, I am not a Trekkie!)
I know we will figure it out, but we just want to please everyone......
This is kind of a depressing post for me, so I will end it with one of my favorite quotes:
"The most wasted of all days is one without laughter"
~ee cummings
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I love that quote . . . :)
Corie, I think most of us share in this dilemna. I've yet to find a solution. I know that we had 8 Christmas' a few years ago and we decided then that we just couldn't do that anymore. It's stressful and that's just not how this time of year was meant to be. So we do what is best for US and everyone else accepts that. Our family has been very understanding. If we can't make it to an event, they're always understanding. We try, but if we can't, we can't. Most of the time, if, for example, we can't go to Neil's Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving Day, then we go to his Christmas on Christmas Day. And vice versa. You will find once you start a family that this gets even more difficult and there's just no possible way to go to 7 Christmas' anymore. I think once you start a family, the most important gathering should be that of your own with your children. Then you go elsewhere when you can. But you keep your own family's needs first. We've learned that simplicity leads to less stress, more fulfillment and joy, more happiness thus more smiles. We are close to our families too and this is just what we've came to terms with. My sis-in-law has the same situation. They have a new baby and are seeing that they can't do 8 anymore, so they've cut down to 3 or 4. You just have to :)
Hope you find a solution. the last thing anyone needs is to find this time of the year stressful or too hectic. Love and blessings to you, Corie, and Keith. xo
p.s. sorry to make that so long!
Post a Comment