Hopefully you are not subject to this during the holidays but many of us are....the rat race. This is the time of year when we have party after party to attend. And then there are the cookie exchanges, school plays, church plays and it seems to us that every family member has their own Christmas at their house and we must attend all of them.
We used to go to every one and we literally would go non stop. It became ridiculous. My children cannot even enjoy Christmas at home because we are constantly watching the clock about where to go next.
In the past few years I have gradually scaled back and will again this year. It is not fair to go to one grandparents and not the other, to go to one parents and not the other. I come from a divorced family so you can automatically multiply my parents times two, I have two sets of grandparents (thank God in heaven they are still with us). Hubby has the one place to go during the holidays for his entire family....now they have the right idea :-). This year I will be telling everyone....we will be going no where on Christmas day. That is reserved for my own family and my own family traditions in my home. Anyone that wants to stop by and see us is very welcome but we will not be visiting anyone's home on that day. The Saturday before Christmas we will go to my Dads --they do this so as not to interfere with anyones schedule and it works out well. Christmas Eve we will go to hubby's family but that is the only place on Christmas Eve. I am not sure when my mother will have hers but since I am the only child we can pretty much work out a schedule that works for us. We will see our grandparents on the days that follow up to Christmas on our own and spend some time with them and give them their gift. It is better that way anyway because you actually get to spend time alone with them.
Don't get me wrong. I love being around all of my family but I simply cannot be everywhere and if I went to all of the Christmas gatherings my children would have no special memories of Christmas at home with mom and dad. And no time to sit and focus on the true meaning of Christmas which has nothing to do with running from place to place and forcing yourself to eat another meal when you just ate one. It is about Jesus and celebrating His birthday and focusing on His love.
So I encourage you this year to just say no to the cookie exchange, work party, sister's uncle's son's brother's party, and to just stay home with your children making new family traditions that will last a lifetime.
My next blog on this subject will be on Christmas traditions. Come and join me!
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