Growing up we never traveled for Thanksgiving, maybe the fact that there were 8 of us made for a kind of big Thanksgiving dinner as it was. My grandpa would make the drive down to spend with us, but our other grandparents lived across the country; so it was usually our family and sometimes the missionaries from our church.
When Eric and I were first married we would rotate Thanksgiving and Christmas between each our of parents, so we were never home.
We finally had our first Thanksgiving at our new home we had built after I had graduated and was working and Eric was finishing up school. It was a new experience being the host, we learned the art of brining a turkey and have been doing it ever since.
Once we started having kids things changed. Christmas morning now meant piles of presents under the tree and beginning our own traditions. I wanted to be home on Christmas. With our many moves we were rarely close to family and so it often was just us, but I was okay with that. These early years of parenting with the kid still young, their beliefs in Santa still strong are magical and something to be cherished.
I was honestly kind of grateful we didn't have a lot of family around and didn't have to spend the day going from one home to another; it was just us and I was okay with that.
Now Thanksgiving, that is another story. I think it would be kind of sad and feel like just another meal if it was just my family. The other day Alex asked if we have ever had Thanksgiving at our house, and I realized in her almost all her lifetime we have not hosted a Thanksgiving dinner, but have always gone to another family member's house and I kind of love it.
But come Christmas morning we will be here at our home; grandparents are welcome, but other than that I am honestly really good with being just us; enjoying the moments, the traditions, letting our kids really enjoy their toys (before they are too old to want lots of toys Christmas morning).
Do you travel for the holidays are do you prefer it being just your family?
We'll travel for Thanksgiving sometimes, but not for Christmas. Christmas is wherever we happen to live. My mom was all on board for that policy when we lived near her, even backed it up, going on long rants about how important it is for kids to be in their own homes on Christmas morning... she feels a little differently since we moved. ;)
ReplyDeleteSince I don't have children, I'm ever so grateful that my sister and her husband come to my mom's on Christmas Eve with their 2 kids and we have Christmas morning together there. I can't imagine how lonely it would be if it was just my mom and I on Christmas morning... I don't blame families who don't want to travel on Christmas, or who want to carve out their own traditions, but we're lucky they don't live far away and don't seem to mind coming up to spend the holidays with us!
ReplyDeleteThe past few years we haven't traveled for Christmas. We'll go down the street to my grandma's for dinner, but we have Christmas morning at our house. Thanksgiving is split between staying home (remember, my family lives close by) and traveling to see my in-laws.
ReplyDeleteSince I'm single (though very attached) I have always had to travel for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. Chris is hosting Thanksgiving this year with his whole family, so in a way it'll be like I'm hosting it too, but I won't see my family, which feels kind of weird.
ReplyDeleteI am the same exact way! We have always lived the farthest from our families in both families so we are always the one to visit them and we always have to spend the night. So I don't mind going for Thanksgiving because we usually get two days off and the whole weekend whereas Christmas we never know depending on which day it falls on. I love being home for Christmas! It's nice to just be home, when the kids get older I wouldn't mind visiting families but for now I am right there with ya!! Happy Holidays!
ReplyDeleteThis is where we are at too. We have always switched back and forth on holidays, but now that my husband's sisters have kids, we won't do Christmas on Christmas Day with the whole family because we want to be in our homes with our kids on Christmas Day. Neither of us traveled for Christmas as kids and we want that for our kids. We would invite grandparents, but we want to be at home. We will continue to switch for Thanksgiving. It works out really well for us.
ReplyDeleteI never really had the opportunity to "travel". My grandparents usually were within 30 miles of our house. Eventually my aunt moved to Oklahoma so we went there for Thanksgiving and they came up here for Christmas. When one set of my grandparents died, my mom volunteered us to drive to Oklahoma for Christmas. I kind of threw a fit and told her I wasn't going. I'd go for Thanksgiving but there were more of us to go to Oklahoma (5 1/2 hours) for Christmas with presents then the 2 of them coming up and I told her I wouldn't go for Christmas. So if we go, it's for Thanksgiving and my aunt and uncle come here for Christmas.
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