Halloween is over, so Christmas is somehow on the horizon already.
First order of business…. take down my Halloween stuff. Which is all definitely still up, including the orange outdoor lights. Eh, what’s the rush.
But I am feeling a small sense of urgency to get a move on in the Christmas department, because we (finally) just booked flights to Mexico for Christmas!!
It’s kind of a long story, but in the 16 years we’ve been married, we’ve actually never spent a Christmas in Mexico. (To any new readers: My husband is Mexican.)
Reasons:
- I used to work a lot of Christmases in the hospital (🤮 I hated this!)
- I am a Christmas Control Freak and like Christmas to be “my” way…. sorry, but true.
- Ivan doesn’t actually care that much about all the “holiday traditions” like I do, so he has historically just handed me the sleigh reins.
- I do not like traveling over the holidays. Crowds, PRICES are insane, potential snowstorms/ weather issues…. just ew. I’d much rather be home and cozy and do all the holiday things here.
- I like spending Christmas with my parents. (Ivan may, too, yes… I realize this. I didn’t say this was fair, just that it was a reason.)
However, we realized that starting next year, Asher will have high school swim season over Christmas. Which apparently is in full swing over winter break. I think they practice like twice a day and are “highly discouraged” from missing even a single day, if possible. 😩
Hmm. Doesn’t really sound like any extended vacations will be in the cards over Christmas, then, going forward.
So, we determined that we should do at least one “Mexico Christmas” before the kids are grown- and logistically (given the upcoming high school swim thing), this 8th grade year makes the most sense.
Also, I think Ivan is really excited to be “home” for Christmas and New Years for a change. (From what I hear, the traditions are very, very different. But that’s okay. I will go with the flow. I am really good at that. 😂 Ivan’s parents will love it. ❤)
The whole thing was complicated, though, because the flight prices were astronomical. ASTRONOMICAL. (Ethan has exams until the 22nd. So we are forced to fly either the 23rd or 24th- oh joy!). After weeks of price stalking, Ivan finally found some reasonable-ish tickets early on the morning of the 24th- a direct flight! Should have us to Mexico City before noon. (Fingers crossed).
I’m trying to decide how much Christmas should still happen around here, considering we’ll actually be gone from 12/24 – 1/5. Do I decorate? Cookies? Do we still do our normal gift exchange??? Or just call it a busy/ crazy year and skip it all? (Not sure I can bring myself to do this…. have I mentioned I love Christmas? But given Charlie and current busy life, could make sense…?)
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for Ivan finding flights that work!
GRATEFUL KAE 
Well I am planning to put our tree up and decorate on 11/16 when I have the day off! I like to do it early because we have Thanksgiving weekend which can be busy and then the next weekend is Will’s birthday party. So I like to get the tree up early. I also ordered the boys’ advent calendar last weekend – I got them a lego one which is mostly for Paul but Will enjoys legos too, he’s just apt to destroy anything that is assembled and can be taken apart easily…
Since you love Christmas SO MUCH I think I’d do some decorating but maybe scale it back so you don’t have to do too much when you come back from this trip? Unless you think you will handle that ok? I don’t like holiday decor to linger because I am antsy to get my house back to normal. So I would not be opposed to taking the tree down on 12/26… I did keep it up until New Years last year, though, but I can’t remember why. It does provide a nice glow on cold, dark winter nights!
Flight prices are expensive full stop. Then add in a holiday and it’s extra bad. I hope you can enjoy this rare Christmas in Mexico. We have settled into a tradition of celebrating Thanksgiving with my family and Christmas with Phil. There are some hard feelings within my family about this… mostly from a couple of siblings… but it works for us. My widowed MIL really needs us around her for the Christmas holiday far more than my parents do. They will have a houseful as 2-3 of my siblings spend Christmas at my parents. I love celebrating with Phil’s family, though. There is a super fun Christmas Eve party at his cousins’ house where young children are such an anomaly since his cousins’ kids are out of college. So the boys get a lot of attention – and gifts. And it’s just a super fun party. And then we get a quiet Christmas at our house and no one has to share a room and the kids sleep in their own beds and it’s just GLORIOUS.
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I usually like to keep our Christmas stuff up through New Years for sure. I think for me, we are often so busy leading up to Christmas that it’s actually sometimes kind of hard to just sit back and enjoy it before Christmas. But in that stretch between Christmas and New Years, sometimes things slow down. I love having the tree lights still on while we watch movies (Christmas movies still fair game until New Years too, lol). But yes, once New Years is over, then I deem the holidays to be “over” and I am usually pretty ready to get the house back to normal!
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A Christmas trip sounds like so much fun! Especially when you get a direct flight for a good price. Woo hoo!
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OH YES…. direct flight = AMEN.
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so happy for you!!! Christmas in Mexico will be a blast, minus the flight price.
we are having two grandmas for chinese new year so we are super excited too!
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Oh, how exciting!!
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I am always intrigued by how other people celebrate the holidays! My husband and I BOTH grew up having one set of grandparents in our hometown and one an hour away. And then now his parents are local and mine are an hour away, so our kids have the same situation we did. I feel like we are kind of spoiled on the whole no traveling for the holiday thing! (Of course there are definitely trade-offs with any situation though!)
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I grew up with both sets of my grandparents living in the same town, about an hour away. We sort of did a combo split where it was Christmas Eve- just my nuclear family, and then Christmas Day split between both grandparents’ houses. And we usually stayed around for the 26th, too.
One perk to having my in-laws so far away is that it sort of removes the whole “splitting time” thing from the equation, which I think can get complicated/ overwhelming for some people. But of course, it can also be a negative….
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Figuring out this whole Christmas business with family is hard. I preferably also like to celebrate Christmas with my family, but for one reason or another, not least because of Covid, I haven’t been home for Christmas in several years (and we also didn’t travel to Jon’s family either). This year, I was hoping to go, but now Jon’s mom has health issues and I think we’re going to spend Christmas with her this year. Sigh. It’s hard to make this all work… so I can understand your reservations but also good arguments why you’re going to Mexico this year (and I think it will be great and you’ll have fun).
It’s a Christmas dilemma though, but if you enjoy the holiday season so much, I don’t see a reason not to decorate.
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Aww, yeah, it is complicated for sure!! I have been spoiled having my parents so close and here for so many Christmases. It’s really important and special to me, so I do not take it for granted! I hope you can get home to Germany for a Christmas soon!
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Kae, sometimes I wonder if we’re twins separated at birth. I feel the same way about Christmas- I hate to travel, I like to be in my own cozy home with my own favorite traditions. But I totally get why you feel you should go away this year, and kudus to you for having such a good attitude about it!
Now, should you decorate… it’s tricky. I think I would be very sad NOT to decorate, but I would also feel really depressed returning home on January 5th to a house all decorated for Christmas. I think I would… not put up a full-size tree. But I would have a smaller tree, and lots of other decorations. And I would try- even though it’s the last thing you’ll feel like doing- to take some of it down before you leave on the 23rd. I’ll be interested to hear how you decide to handle it, AND I’ll be interested to hear about your Mexican Christmas experience!
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Yep, second this. It feels weird to get rid of the tree before Christmas (and I’m always quite tempted to put it on freecycle if it didn’t involve saying “hey, our house is unoccupied!”) but it’s so much better to come back to that fresh start in January.
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That makes sense Coree! We do a fake tree, so our tree is good to just chill there until whatever. I do always wish I could wave a wand and have everything put away. I think we can all agree that it is WAY more fun to decorate FOR Christmas vs take it down…
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Hahaha! And it’s funny, because I do really love to travel, so I feel like some people might assume I’d CHOOSE to jet off any chance we got. But nope! I cherish the holiday traditions too much. Being somewhere else just doesn’t feel the same! Also, being from Wisconsin, Christmas to me = winter weather. So I never have much desire to go off to like, a beach somewhere over Christmas. Which sounds weird, but it’s true!
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I’m on Team Fully Decorate! You will enjoy it so much before you leave (you’re not leaving until the 24th after all). Plus, maybe when you get back you can have a belated Xmas eve style celebration with mom and dad with all the things (food, lights, music, and gift opening). That way you get the best of both worlds – celebrating in Mexico with Ivan’s family, and our family’s traditional special night to look forward to when you get back. Who cares if it’s two weeks late? It’ll still be special, and you can enjoy your decorating efforts that much longer.
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Yeah, I am sure I will decorate! Though I have my doubts about how long the Christmas tree will last with Charlie around…. haha. I think I would just be too sad to not do any of our normal stuff! Also had the thought that maybe I’ll bake some of our favorite Christmas cookies and then take them to Mexico for them to all try! Would be a fun way to sort of merge our traditions.
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It’s the timing of Christmas this year. We’re having to skip 2 days of school because the flight options are either the 20th or the 24th and no thank you to Christmas eve….
We spend Christmas in Portugal – I’m an only child, my parents have relocated, and I struggle with the winter blues, so a few weeks with the potential of sunshine is helpful. I’m sure it’s controversial with my in-laws but meh… it’s also my birthday so I’m being selfish.
We do decorate, nothing OTT but we get a real tree on 1 December (and throw it into the back garden on the way to the airport to avoid coming home to a sad tree), and often do an early Christmas meal/presents for T so we don’t have to pack much.
We’re going light on presents this year after a very expensive sudden renovation became necessary (realised our upstairs shower floor has caved…) so I’m now wondering about hosting folks for cinnamon rolls, hot chocolate, just a little drop-in playdate as a way of making things feel more festive.
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Ah, Portugal sounds lovely!! It is hard I am sure being an only child- makes it a little trickier to leave your parents on their own!
I think we will try to go light on gifts too, especially since we are traveling. I think the boys are a little bummed in some ways to not do our “normal” Christmas, but I am sure we will still do some sort of replacement celebration with my parents at home before or after, and they will have lots of fun in Mexico, anyway. 🙂
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Oh Kae, I am so with you on this. I hate travelling at Christmas and have not done so since…2001 maybe? I can’t even remember. The flight prices are insane! But that said, I’m sure you’ll have a great time and Ivan will be so happy to be “home” for the holidays!
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Yeah, I don’t think I have EVER been away over Christmas, now that I think of it!! (Unless you count being at the hospital for work.) It just seems like a big hassle! I’m praying our actual travel experience will be smooth…. fingers crossed….
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I am Team Decorate. We have only ever spent one Christmas Day at our home the whole time we’ve been married (2020, natch), but I love getting our house all decked out and cozy. I mean, we still get to enjoy the decorations from whenever we put them up (right after Thanksgiving, usually) until we leave, so that’s almost a month. It gets me in the spirit!
Splitting time with family is definitely our number one marriage stressor. His family is closer, in both metaphor and distance, but I feel so guilty that I have not been around for any major holidays in years. On the other hand, it’s expensive to travel to my family, my husband can’t comfortably eat there, and it’s mostly just an unhappy experience for all of us. *sigh* There is always some unfairness about how time is split, I guess.
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Aww, yeah, I know you have mentioned the spitting family stress before. That does sound really complicated. I would feel guilty in your situation too, but I get it! It’s just hard. You can’t beat yourself up over it!
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Haha, I vote skip it all! That’s the dream 🙂
Have a safe trip, roll back and enjoy!
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Ohhhh, but I actually really love most of it!! Even though it simultaneously stresses me out, haha. I always get a giggle out of that one Christmas movie- I think it’s called Christmas with the Kranks. Where they decide to “skip Christmas” but then their daughter surprises them and comes home and they frantically race around to make Christmas happen. Hahaha.
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I love Christmas with family. My family that is. My husband’s family lives in the Dominican Republic. Luckily he has no intention to go to his family over the holidays but I always wonder if we should do it one day.
I hope your Christmas will still be spectacular even though it will be unfamiliar. And I say do some of your own Christmas traditions if they fit. in.
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Yes! Goal for this weekend: sit down and write out a list and decide which things will stay, and which things should go this year! 🙂
And Christmas in Dominican Republic?? Sounds good to me!
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While I am completely a person who prefers Christmas At My Home, I think your trip sounds like so much fun! And it definitely sounds like this is the year to do it. If it were me, I would still do some Christmassy stuff at home — decorations, cookies, etc — especially if the traditions in Mexico will be wildly different. But maybe cutting back on the gifts will be easier if you are celebrating in a different country!
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I definitely do think that while I prefer Christmas At Home, as you do, we have done a LOT of Christmases at Home and it will be fun/ is the right thing to do etc to do at least one in Mexico! I think the fact that we don’t normally do it will make it that much more special and memorable.
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Plus side – fewer people travel ON Christmas Eve or day. So there’s that? 🙂
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I think Christmas is not merely about decorating, cakes, gift exchange, and all commercial things. This is about spreading love to the family and the people around.
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