Yours. Mine. Ours?
January 4, 2012Ah, the holidays. Love or dread them (maybe both?), they came and went. Welcome 2012! How do you celebrate holidays as a grown up? My holidays are a mix of then and now, making the journey to my family home on alternating Thanksgiving and Christmas. It’s not the screaming, up early, wrap-flying Christmas of my youth. Admittedly, this is sometimes a blessing.
And holidays are for kids right? Mostly, I suppose. Most of my friends have small children, and I’m fascinated by a battle I watched my sister and brother-in-law work out years ago. How do you decide what from your childhood stays and what from their childhood stays? Can two different experiences be merged into something that makes everyone happy?
The aforementioned conversation with my sister and bil started with “Santa doesn’t use gift tags.” No, he doesn’t. He uses a Sharpie and writes your name in all caps then circles it. Except that Santa did use gift tags at the bil’s house. I don’t know if they couldn’t agree, but the Santa who visits my nieces does neither! He wraps each of their gifts in different paper and puts a few small ones in their stocking so they know which is theirs. Interesting compromise.
Do you give St Nick’s gifts? Do you open gifts on Christmas Eve? Do you open gifts one at a time? Are you up before dawn? Movie and Chinese food to end the night? Forget the holiday and have a vacay on a sunny beach every year?
This is my new fascination. I’d love to hear what you kept, gave up, and changed.
