I am so completely guilty over hauling my children to Grandma & Grandpa’s house that they rarely get to just spend an entire holiday at their own home for Christmas. It is the time of year when my family – four brothers and one sister and all the in-laws, outlaws, nieces, nephews, boyfriends, girlfriends, and everyone in between – gets together. It was *my* Christmas growing up and I made it their Christmas, too.
What is looming, though, is when that tradition will end. When my daughters have their own children, how will they choose to dole out their holiday time? With their parents, grandparents, both or neither?
My friend told me today that this is the year she has broken their family tradition of the big family coming together at 11:00 a.m. on Christmas morning. Her relatives are upset because she made the decision that this year it’s about her immediate family, her children, and their happiness. No more scrambling after opening Santa’s presents to get dressed and rush to somewhere else an hour away. No more enduring small talk and chit-chat for her and her children. Now her Christmas will be the family staying home to open gifts together, enjoying a meal, playing games, watching a movie, and celebrating the reason for the season without being rushed everywhere.
How I envy her. Yet I feel afraid, too, as I look in my own crystal ball.
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