I'm taking a half day of PTO today & then we fly to my parents house. Looking very forward to seeing the family! I saw my parents for brunch back in October when I did the 10k race, but the boys haven't seen them since this summer. They are both quite excited to see their grandparents, which is awesome.
I also get to see my sister, her partner, my BFF & her daughters, so looking forward to that. While we will hang out with my sister & her partner, her boys are with their dad this year, so we will definitely miss them. It's always so fabulous when we get all of the six "kids" (all of them are 18+ now, so I suppose they no longer qualify) together.
We spend the time doing puzzles, going for walks, playing games, eating lots of great food, & laughing. Gift giving is a very minor part of our celebration, mostly because of the age of the kids. Things were different when we had a lot of younger people in the house. For now, the "kids" each get a gift from someone who drew their name, and then my parents insist on a gift for every one of the "kids". Anyway, it's a lot of fun & we laugh so much, especially during the bingo game we play on Christmas. My BFF is the official bingo caller, and she takes her role very seriously. ;-)
A few more hours of work to get through, and then I'm officially on PTO until January 5th. Well, not exactly, as I'm on call for about half of those days, but hey, no meetings at least!
Hope you have a lovely holiday season, a chance to enjoy your family & spend time with people you care about.
I think that is part of why I never really loved Christmas with my in-laws. It was very gift focused, hours of opening-too much. then it felt like we were forced to stay longer to visit because the afternoon got consumed. I love the sound of yours-calmer, and what I wish I could do with my immediate family on Christmas day.
ReplyDeleteOof, I am not a fan of the big gift giving. It used to take longer (four young boys!), but we removed adult gifting really early on, which helped tremendously. I'd say the gift giving takes about 90 minutes, because we give gifts one by one, read silly name tags & everyone gives hugs after opening gifts.
DeleteThe time together is very relaxed - we play the Saran wrap game, often Pictionary, bingo, we do puzzles & then the boys +my dad + M go to lunch on Christmas Eve at the local watering hole (minors allowed before a specific time) & bump into all of my dad's friends, my uncle comes, etc. They love it. The girls stay back and share a bottle of champagne & catch up on all of the happenings.
M makes prime rib for Christmas Eve, which we turn into sliders to keep it more casual/appetizer like. We do soup and cheesy bread (same as Anne, it sounds like!) on Christmas, along with salad & Christmas cookies. We have brunch on Christmas Day as well.
We all head back to reality pretty early in the day on the 26th. My parents area is expecting a huge wind storm, so we are hoping not to lose power! Especially as they are on a well, and without the power, no water! = HP
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Safe travels too!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Belinda! Enjoy the holidays with your family! - HP
DeleteHave a wonderful holiday and enjoy the family time. This year is going to be a little bit different since my sister's husband died this year. She will probably hang out with us after brunch for as long as she wants to, and we can watch Christmas movies or play games. Then do the soup and cheese toast dinner with or without her. Her dogs dinner time keeps her on a schedule.
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