When the holidays start creeping around the corner, the question hanging over my husband and my heads is "who's family are we going to see and when?" Marriage adds an interesting dynamic to holidays {or to everything ever!}. We both bring our own dearly held traditions and expectations to each holiday. And we both need to make sacrifices in how we see our ideal holidays playing out.
Dan and I both come from families that are deeply rooted and family oriented. We are dealing with not only our own expectations, but those of our parents and other extended family. For a few years {even when we were just dating} we wore ourselves out making upwards of 4-5 stops during Thanksgiving or Christmas festivities. With a baby in tow, we knew that those schedules could not be sustained. So now we are in the early stages of picking and choosing and, the hardest task, tactfully communicating. Blending families and traditions is such a delicate task.
An option my cousin has adopted gracefully is trading off holidays. As example, if she is with her side of the family on Thanksgiving, her family is with her husband's kin for Christmas. This works especially well for her as her husband's family is mainly located out of town. As for us, our families are both in the Twin Cities with about 20 minute travel time between them. I don't think this option will work smoothly for our family. I can guess that both our parents wouldn't totally understand not getting together for a holiday if we are in town.
How have you solved the problem of the holiday shuffle after marriage?
Vi ses senare!
Emily
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