Jane in NC Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 This question stems from a conversation that I had with a family member who lives in another state. Her holiday is defined by a series of family parties with gift exchanges among cousins, nieces, aunts, in laws, etc. Obviously a lot of these people live near each other. Some families may travel to other relatives every other year but make a point of attending these family parties at least every 2nd year. My holiday is intimate, just the immediate family, possibly some friends stopping by. Simple, not a lot of gift buying. When my husband's mother was alive, we made a three hour drive on Boxing Day to have dinner with her and a sibling's family. Now that she has died, we focus on the immediate family. In the sibling's case, this includes her grandchildren who were not born while her mother was still alive. I am an extrovert but I think that extended family parties over the course of three or four days is just nuts. My sister is annoyed because one of her adult children and his family are coming in for the holidays--the family parties--but won't be around for much quality time with his parents. I cherish the time this holiday offers us with my now adult son whom we haven't seen since the summer. Selfish that I don't want to travel with him to share? Yup. Plus, he'd rather be home and not in the home of a relative for the holiday. But I realize that my sister would be miserable without all of the family parties, her opportunity to see all the cousins and the aunts, etc. This is clearly a personality thing. How do you define your Christmas? Are you miserable without extended family? Are you miserable traveling and find that you'd rather stay home? Or have you found some interesting solutions to keep all of the personality types within your family happy? And Merry Christmas all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 Good company of friends and/or family, good cheer, good food. Maybe some music or games (but DH loathes games, so we rarely play any) I miss my family back home; it is not an ideal holiday without them. I have gotten used to it in the fifteen years since we moved away, but the first ten years were rough; I was so incredibly homesick at Christmas, for the people, and for all the traditions, too. I had to reinvent Christmas for me to make it work. I don't like to travel at Christmas. I did it a few times, and it felt like skipping the holiday altogether. Which, I guess, is a solution, but I don't like it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted December 23, 2016 Author Share Posted December 23, 2016 Yeah, I don't like to travel at Christmas for a couple of reasons: airports/highways are too crowded and weather is often iffy. Game playing is part of our holiday! I love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraidycat Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 (edited) It depends on the year. This year we're skipping the big extended family-friend gathering/meal/extra work on Christmas Eve (1/4 mile away) to stay home, play games, watch Christmas movies, and eat chips & dip. Christmas Day meal is scaled waaaay back, too. It will be turkey, cabbage rolls, and perogies (for those who can eat them) without all the added stuff that doesn't get eaten anyway. We're not leaving the house for two days. Anyone is welcome to stop by, if they choose. I'm looking forward to it. I'm an extrovert, too. But I find in huge gatherings, with kids or responsibilities (cooking/cleaning) interrupting, I don't get to hold a conversation anyway. It can be rather lonely to sit in a huge room of people and only catch snippets here and there of what is going on. I'd rather visit one-on-one (or two) with people during the year than see them all at once. Edited December 23, 2016 by fraidycat 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornblower Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 We escaped to Hawaii one year. If I didn't have dogs, I'd do it every year. I like onelittlemonkey's idea except I kind of like our house so I'd like us to just hide in our house & not be bugged by anyone :P 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 I prefer a low key holiday. I don't mind seeing family, but they have to visit me. It is much more enjoyable to see one or two siblings at a time instead of everyone. Prior to kids we always traveled home because it never occurred to me to do things differently. I really like being at home and creating our own traditions. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted December 24, 2016 Share Posted December 24, 2016 Perfect holiday -- Spending some time with family and friends. But not too much. ;) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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