Holiday Craziness at Your House?

[Twinkle Toes]

We're home for the holidays...and everyone is always glad to see everyone. We live in another state, so it's sort of a big deal when we come to visit. We keep trying to visit before or after the holidays to avoid the holiday craziness..family keeps insisting it wouldn't be the same if we weren't home for Christmas. BTW, DD, DS and inlaws all live about 90 minutes from each other.

DD and DS juggle us around so we get to see both grandkid's recitals, see the latest kid movies with them and go to each one's church. Where to spend Christmas morning gets to be a little dicey. DH's mom and dad are in their early 90s and insist on having Christmas dinner at their house at 2 pm. Earlier or later won't do...and no one wants to force the issue because "how many more years will they be around." The grandkids have to hurry through opening their presents and get ready to go to Great-gram's house. Both grandkids are allergic to cats and Great-gram has indoor and outdoor cats. By the end of Christmas day everyone is exhausted and some are also itchy and wheezing.

We've tried spending Christmas with just our kids and grandkids in the past, and it was really nice...only DD or DS's nose was somewhat out of joint over having to travel to the other's house on Christmas morning. But DH's family keeps reminding him that "Mom and Dad won't be around much longer"...so this year we will spend another Christmas driving all over the place on Christmas day. This year DD said enough is enough and she is going to stay home with her DD and DH. Hooray for her, but I'll miss seeing them. Yikes, am I being part of the problem?

Don't get me wrong, we love our family...all of them. I don't want to be Scrooge, but the hectic holiday schedule makes me crazy. How do you keep things in balance during the holidays?

 

[Meadbh]

DD is right. She's starting her own tradition.

 

[RetireeRobert]

I don't want to be Scrooge, but the hectic holiday schedule makes me crazy. How do you keep things in balance during the holidays?

We're both retired, so we just sit back and enjoy the hecticness! Helps keep us alive and vital. Oldest DD is a professional musician working on her Master's, and doing gigs and teaching music lessons in between, so she is a whirlwind. When we can entice her to fly into our coop for a day or two, we do what we can to facilitate her activity.

I'll grab her car keys when she sleeps in mornings, and take it down and fill the tank with gas, or get the oil changed, etc. DW will pack up a care package of homebaked goodies and foodstuffs for her (like cartons of oatmeal).

After DD whirls back on out, DW and I comment to each other how we made it worth her while to show up on our stoop again---tank of gas, bundle of cookies, couple cartons of oatmeal, bundle of saved up mail or turned over a gig check she earned, etc.

We kind of get a kick out of the "tornado".

 

[bbbamI]

It's easy for us to keep things in balance during the holidays. Our parents live several hours away from us, and since they are not able to make the trek to our place, we go see them. We usually go the week before/after a holiday because of the traffic.

Even though we get tired of having to do all of the traveling, it's nice to be able to say...."we've had a wonderful time, but we gotta go."

There's no place like home.

 

[Goonie]

Don't get me wrong, we love our family...all of them. I don't want to be Scrooge, but the hectic holiday schedule makes me crazy. How do you keep things in balance during the holidays?

Our holiday schedule is pretty much non-existent. My siblings live 700-900 miles away, and they do their own thing at home. So we get up, have a light breakfast, open gifts, talk to siblings on the phone, and then we go for a nice community dinner at the Masonic Temple and visit with a lot of our friends that also go there. In the afternoon, we might go to my aunt's house for their big get together, but, more often than not, we just stay comfy at home and watch TV or listen to music.

It gets awfully hectic around here....but somehow we manage to get by!

 

[Payin-the-Toll]

Have always had Christmas morning gift-opening and dinner at our house since the 3 daughters were born (2 are twins and 1 is 9 months older). When parents were alive, vistited the day before, day after, or whenever convenient. Oldest daughter is expecting her second child (a boy this time), and he's due on Christmas Day, so everyone is going to her and her DH place (160 miles). This will be the first time in 32 years that we haven't had Christmas morning in the same house. I did all my usual stuff (decorated the outside, put out the 4 ceramic trees for display, drug our 7' cactus into the living room and decked it out for a tree, taped up the Christmas cards, etc.) But wife hasn't done anything (said there's no sense to drag out 30 years of nic-nacs since no one will be here). I think it's affecting her more than me, or she's too exicited about the baby to do other stuff. I also have a piano and a portable electric keyboard (can't play worth a crap), and have a few books of Christmas carols that I've collected over the years. Has always been a tradition after gifts are opened, I play music while the women do the cooking. Want so badly to drag that keyboard up to DD's, but we're going to have to take 2 vehicles just to haul all our stuff (staying a few days) and the presents. Guess traditions are made to be broken. Think I'm a December lover cause my mom was born 12/6, my birthday is today (12/16), and my grandmother was born on Christmas (12/25).

 

[Payin-the-Toll]

Oops, forgot to mention that if Beethoven were alive, he'd be 237 years old today--Happy Birthday 'B'

 

[TargaDave]

Until the kids are out of school: a few low key holiday parties with friends (Jeans and Jameson). Extremely limited gift shopping.

Christmas week (10 days): waterfront camper-campsite at Sunshine Key (next to Marathon, FL), lights strung over the palms and camper, taking the boat out in search of snapper around 7-mile bridge, kiting-sailing from the campsite, just hanging out. Missed 1 year out of the last 7. Kids luv it. Leaving Wed (yeah!)

Thanksgiving is our big multi-family get together time. Seems to work well for us.

 

[Moemg]

We spent Thanksgiving with my daughter so we will have Christmas Eve at our house with SO's four boys ,two wives , one maybe two girlfriends and four children under age five .I cook massive amounts and we have a good time .On Christmas day everybody does their own thing and by New Year's I just want to be in flannel PJ's.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Happy Birthday Payin-the-toll! DH's was Wednesday the 12th and mine is Saturday the 22nd. I bet you are used to the birthday/Christmas jumble, like us!

We have no kids and thus no tree, no decorations, no stuff and it is really very nice. We go see the niece and nephews and then (whew) come home again. We'll go to Mom and Dad's (just a mile or so away) on Christmas eve for a late lunch, then up to DH's Mom's on Christmas day (about 4 hrs away). We can't cheese out because we have no kiddies to excuse us!