How does Christmas work in your house when it comes to going to the grandparents house and relatives houses?

Question

My parents do gift exchanging and dinner on Christmas Eve (always have) and then my husbands parents do theirs on Christmas day. We do our Christmas here with our daughter (she's 3) on Christmas morning. This year we've decided to hit both grandparents house's on Christmas Eve so that we can spend Christmas Day at home just hanging out, watching movies, playing with toys, and so forth. I am kind of exhausted already just thinking about Christmas Eve because my husbands parents live 2 hours away, which means that we'll be leaving early that morning in order to spend some time with them. Then in the late afternoon we'll have to leave in order to make the 2 hour trip back to get to my parents house by 5pm (they live next door to us). After we've done Christmas at my parents house, then its home to get our daughter changed into her pj's and in bed so that the presents can be put under the tree and just make sure that everything is ready for a 3rd Christmas the next morning lol. I love Christmas, but am I the only one who feels really exhausted with all the traveling and different Christmas's? I'm not complaining at all. I love our family and being together is the most important thing and what Christmas is all about after all, but still, I just can't help but feel really rushed about it all.

Answer 1

You could always just host Christmas at your house, invite everyone, and have them bring their gifts along.



I always thought it was a bit unfair that my mom expected us to make a trip to her house with the kids, when it would have been much simpler for her to travel to us.



Now that my kids have a child, I go to their house. It's easier than them packing him up and all his stuff, and entertaining him at my house while they are here.



They still visit from time to time, but when it's a whole day event I go there.

Answer 2

We go to my parents house on Christmas eve and have Christmas at our apartment. This year my husbands father is coming over for Christmas dinner. He doesnt have contact with his mother and just met his father, so we've never had to mess with two family Christmas' before. When I was a kid, we would spend the days leading up to Christmas at my moms parents house and then on Christmas morning, after we opened presents and ate breakfast, we'd go to my dads parents house a couple hours away. That always worked for us, I have a lot of fun memories from it. But if you dont want to make that journey on Christmas, doing them both on Christmas eve makes sense, though it does sound overwhelming. Maybe you could go to your husbands parents house the afternoon before Christmas eve and spend the night there, so you wont have to do all of that driving in the morning, and then you can leave in the afternoon the next day for your parents house.

Answer 3

Luckily my MIL lives in another state so either she comes down to visit, or not. We traveled once and it was miserable and expensive, with a fourteen hour drive each way, two young kids, and three meals a day, you get the picture. Now we leave the traveling to her. My family doesn't celebrate holidays, and my brother in law goes to his wives moms house so we stay home. I love waking up to watch the kids open gifts, then enjoying a good xmas breakfast, cleaning it all up, relaxing, starting dinner, then enjoying dinner together as a little family. It's not too stressful and its cozy.

Answer 4

whilst do you start up adorning? beginning up of December what's your widespread Christmas cookie? Chocolate chip What time do you get to mattress Christmas Eve? 1AMish Do you nonetheless experience a dazzling form of anticipation on Christmas Eve? definite Do you only tend to sit down down in front of the tree and stare at it often times? definite the place is your widespread place to be interior the abode around Christmas time? Kitchen Do you hang a wreath on the door? does it have lighting fixtures fixtures? is it actual? definite, unsure Do you beautify the interior your place only a sprint or finished out north pole status? My mom is going finished out interior the abode. She has like a ton of Christmas bears that pollute my abode each 365 days. How on the subject of the exterior? My mom places some lighting fixtures fixtures up, yet she does not like taking them down afterwards with the aid of fact it is so chilly. Do you greet strangers with a Merry Christmas? often times On a scale from a million-10, how plenty do you like December spectacular now? a million so a procedures as presents are in touch. If I had all the money i necessary for all my presents and have been given them already, 10. might you extremely acquire 20 littler presents or a million enormous present? a million enormous present, if it substitute into greater beneficial than the 20 infants. Do you relish giving greater beneficial than receiving? very plenty so Do you stumble on the sound of rain relaxing? How a pair of crackling hearth? definite, definite. What do you do : 3 days till finally Christmas? placed ending touches on Christmas provides 2 days? settle on what we are doing for Christmas/spend it with relatives Christmas Eve? Church/relatives Christmas Day? relatives ...the feared day after? relatives finally, do you suspect that Christmas is the main magical time of the 365 days? definite

Answer 5

My husband's parents and mine live across the country from each other. What we have done since we were married is one year we go to Florida, the next year we go to Washington, the third year we stay home. If they want to come to us, they are more than welcome. We live in Virginia. The system has been messed up though lately while we have been starting our family. I am pregnant with #2 and can't travel. We will also stay home next year while our second son is so young, and then we will go back to Washington, Florida, home.