How has your marriage changed how you "do" the holidays?

[zhuzhu]

As a "more-recently-than-not wed", I have found adjusting to DH''s family''s holiday traditions harder than expected. I don''t mean it is hard as in hard work, but just different, very different than that of my own.

For example, I now have to buy gifts for children who do not say "thank you", I now have to send over 50 cards to people whom I have never even met (a lot of extended family or family friends in the other side of the country). I do it because it is expected from DH''s mother (so call tradition). But the ironic thing is that he never had to do it when he was single, now he has a wife, and I now have to take over this tradition..... I myself love intimate Christmas and for celebrating it with loved ones whom you feel close to. I really do not enjoy the formality of it as what I am doing feels a lot like "once a year I send you a card to show I did not forget you". It is not that big of a deal but it is definitely very different from my Christmas from "single days".

Has your marriage changed the way you do or celebrate Christmas or other holidays? How long did it take you to "settle in" the new routine? Do you miss your old ways?

 

[Lauren8211]

Not much has changed, except for the fact that he somehow has put me in charge of figuring out gifts for his parents/siblings.

Sorry - I don't necessarily know them well enough to pick out gifts. When I run ideas by him he just goes "No... they wouldnt like that." or "No, too______" whatever.

My family does not exchange gifts, so this is all new to me. We work the same amount of hours, but when he goes out with his friends he says "Why dont you find something online to get them."

Sorry. Not doing your job while you go out and have fun.

Ok that happened last night, so obviously I"m annoyed.

 

[princesss]

Date: 12/23/2009 10:10:47 AM
Author: elledizzy5

Not much has changed, except for the fact that he somehow has put me in charge of figuring out gifts for his parents/siblings.

Sorry - I don''t necessarily know them well enough to pick out gifts. When I run ideas by him he just goes ''No... they wouldnt like that.'' or ''No, too______'' whatever.

My family does not exchange gifts, so this is all new to me. We work the same amount of hours, but when he goes out with his friends he says ''Why dont you find something online to get them.''

Sorry. Not doing your job while you go out and have fun.

Ok that happened last night, so obviously I''m annoyed.

Yeah, that would make me mad.

 

[trillionaire]

we''re not married yet, but we will be next X-mas!

So far, we are still splitting the holidays, though my family has insisted that FI comes for next X-mas (he came last X-mas too). We usually spend the New Year with his family. FI didn''t grow up giving gifts, so he does defer to me in that department. I haven''t really felt any traditions being imposed on us yet, but perhaps because we are never at our own home for the holidays, we are still with our parents who are just happy to have us home once a year

It does make me sad that I can''t have my own tree and lights at our place, because we are never there. I just can''t justify doing all the work and not being there to enjoy it.

 

[Mrs Mitchell]

Not much change for me. DH deals with gifts for his family and friends and I deal with mine. He wrote most of our cards this year, and I did a few for friends of mine he doesn''t know.

For our first married Christmas, he did seem to think I''d do it all (and so did his mother). I just gave him plenty notice that it wasn''t going to happen and he knows me well enough to know I wasn''t bluffing. If you don''t want to do it, don''t do it again, but tell him well in advance, so he can arrange to do his share (would be my unsolicited advice

).

 

[ChemGeek]

I''m not married yet, but we will be spending all of Christmas together. I really think it''s been more of an adjustment for HIM than for me.
There''s the actual gifts aspect of it all:His family''s Christmas is not as extravagant as it is with my parents/grandparents. They also don''t make a big deal out of Christmas (that''s an adjustment for me since I LOVE Christmas and am always happy-go-lucky and joyful!) He is definitely not used to being spoiled at Christmas time whereas growing up my parents did and still do spoil us at Christmastime. It will be his frist Christmas coming to my parent''s house and he''s in for a huge surprise! My parents are at that point where they have everything they could ever need or want, all the kids are gone, so they just kind of pass it along and buy all kinds of surprises for us kids--my mom LOVES buying for others.
As someone said before, we also have to buy for bratty ungrateful kids who will no doubt ruin anything you buy them within a few days. FI''s neices are hellions. Seriously though, they are the best brith control ever! We have a new nephew, but I suspect it won''t be long before he''s following in both his sister''s footsteps

There is some serious lack of control and good parenting there--but that''s a WHOLE different story! So this year...what did we buy them?! PLAY DOUGH!!!!!

That''s right! We both saw it at Target and got the hugest grins on our faces and said "hell yes!" We can''t wait to see them with that stuff! I lobbied for finger paints, but they have birthdays coming up soon...

Then of course there''s the traveling aspect: The only other change that I will have to adjust to is the driving! UGH!!!!!!!! Holy crap, I''m getting exhausted just THINKING about all the driving we are going to have to do! I guess the biggst thing that makes me sad that I will have to get used to is actually having to leave my mom and dad''s on Christmas day rather than getting to spend the entire day with them and leave the next day. It''s going to be very hard for me to have to leave that afternoon. The funny thing is that my mom and dad totally understand that we need to be at both places and are more OK with it than I am!

Overall, it may be totally exhausting having to get used to the all the changes that come with having a new family, but I am sooo thankful and happy that we will get to spend Christmas with both sides of the family! We truly are blessed that at least everyone is healthy and lives close enough for us to actually be able to drive around half the mid-west to see them all!

Hopefully the new transition will go smoothly and we will "settle-in" to the new ways quickly and our families will understand and all that stuff that comes along with gaining a new family!

Hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Christmas/Holiday season!

 

[JSM]

We can't split holidays because his family is 7 hours in one direction, and mine is 5 hours away in the other direction, so we have to choose one or the other. According to his family it's not fair that I 'stole' him the past few Christmases (though it was HIS choice to come with me), so we're visiting his family this year. The thing is, he hates Christmas and there are no real plans for the weekend.

This is hard because I have a very large family with a lot of things to do on Christmas. We laugh, have certain meals, go certain places, and exchange hilarious gifts and stories. Christmas in my family is FUN! Now we are going to his family to basically sit around and watch TV. But fair is fair I guess. They are nice people but this is not my idea of a holiday!

 

[ChemGeek]

Date: 12/23/2009 12:05:21 PM
Author: jsm
We can''t split holidays because his family is 7 hours in one direction, and mine is 5 hours away in the other direction, so we have to choose one or the other. According to his family it''s not fair that I ''stole'' him the past few Christmases (though it was HIS choice to come with me), so we''re visiting his family this year. The thing is, he hates Christmas and there are no real plans for the weekend.

This is hard because I have a very large family with a lot of things to do on Christmas. We laugh, have certain meals, go certain places, and exchange hilarious gifts and stories. Christmas in my family is FUN! Now we are going to his family to basically sit around and watch TV. But fair is fair I guess. They are nice people but this is not my idea of a holiday!

Wow, I think you just read my mind and said it better than I could have! Although we don''t have as far to travel and we are very lucky to get to go to both places, Christmas with my family is WAY more FUN! Everyone talks and laughs and tells stories and it get so loud!! I haven''t been to Christmas with his family yet, but I have a feeling it''ll be his dad handing each kid a card with some cash and sitting around watching tv, chatting, and staring at the wall (and having to eat his dad''s girlfriend''s bad cooking...I''m hoping for pizza carry-out honestly, and I know FI is too! hehe). I don''t care about the gifts at all; we both have everything we need in life and everything we could want, so it''s not even about gifts we may or may not get, but it seems like it will be boring and not as lively and loud and cheery as it will be with my extended family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! I hope his dad doesn''t think I''m "stealing" him on Christmas Eve/Christmas Morning (we''ll still be there by Christmas night!) They really are great people, and I don''t mind going there ever, but it''s just not as FUN! So I totally get it when you say it''s not your idea of a Holiday. I hope everything goes better than hoped for you, though!!

 

[Smurfysmiles]

Last year we spent Christmas without any family when we were engaged. Exchanged a couple gifts, went to 7pm church, and spent the next day with our good friend''s family (their dad is a pastor so Christmas is a pretty fun time to be at their house It was fun!

This year will be a little different lol. His parents are coming to stay with us for about a week in our 2 bedroom apt We have their guest bedroom and bathroom all ready to go so that is good. Did a super clean last night and they arrive tonight. What''s really different for me is how we will spend Christmas Eve. We are going to hang out and eat a special soup dh and his dad make every year and play games, watch movies, etc. Then at midnight we are going to midnight mass. I''ve never been to a catholic church service in my life so it should be interesting! I''m actually really looking forward to it even though I know it won''t be as laid back as the church we usually go to. After that we will come back and open gifts. Then the next day we are heading to my sister''s house for Christmas dinner. She has quite a feast planned which I am also looking forward to

Oh and nobody knows it but I got lots of stocking stuffers to stuff the stockings after everybody goes to bed, I''m really excited about that!!! Just a bunch of little fun gifts we all used to get as kids (candy canes with lip smackers anyone? little story books of life savers and a star wars bobblehead for dh and spongebob golf balls for fil

 

[tlh]

I''mactually glad we don''t live close to hubby relatives. They all gather and it is a cluster f of people on Christmas. I''m used to small intimate family gatherings. May be why I have chosen in 5 years NOT to fly back for the holidays (even though I couldnt get off work anyway)...

So I''m a little nervous about the time spending Christmas with a bunch of strangers to be honest. But we''ll be expected to attend, if we''re close by... so I feel ya!

Weird part is his family has an intimate Christmas party 3 days BEFORE Christmas, and then goes on to the huge family thing. So it scares me a little, because Christmas Day has always been a very quiet day for me, to love and appreciate my nearest and dearest - not a bunch of crazy drunk hooligans with which I share some bloodlines. (or in this case - not)

I may just be nervous because I''ve never gone back for it... but man, these people can put away some brown liquer...

 

[sunnyd]

This will be our first married christmas, but nothing has changed for us. Our families live 5 minutes from each other, so it''s easy to split time. We do gift opening at his parents'' until 10, then go to mine for gift opening and breakfast. Then we go home and go back to my parents'' for dinner then back to his for dessert and games.

It''s a good system for us for now, but I imagine once we have kids in the 2 year old range we''ll want to stay home christmas morning and join up with the fams for dinner.

 

[stephbolt]

Date: 12/23/2009 12:05:21 PM
Author: jsm
We can''t split holidays because his family is 7 hours in one direction, and mine is 5 hours away in the other direction, so we have to choose one or the other. According to his family it''s not fair that I ''stole'' him the past few Christmases (though it was HIS choice to come with me), so we''re visiting his family this year. The thing is, he hates Christmas and there are no real plans for the weekend.

This is hard because I have a very large family with a lot of things to do on Christmas. We laugh, have certain meals, go certain places, and exchange hilarious gifts and stories. Christmas in my family is FUN! Now we are going to his family to basically sit around and watch TV. But fair is fair I guess. They are nice people but this is not my idea of a holiday!

This is exactly how I feel about FIs family! We went up there for Thanksgiving, and it was basically, go over to Aunt''s house, eat, leave. Whereas my family would be, show up, talk, games, apps, talk, dinner, talk, more games, etc. etc. It was really depressing for me to think about the huge get together I was missing.

We are going to my parents for Christmas this year, but I''m already dreading the next year a bit. I don''t want to give up all our fun xmas traditions!

 

[that_someone_special]

Oh boy. I''m still engaged but I have taken over all of the gift buying AND WRAPPING. Thanks sweetie! The thing that is bothering me the most is that my family invited us over Xmas eve AND Xmas day which is normal to me. His family asked HIM (and not me) to come over for lunch today... but he was working so that didn''t work. They have not asked us to do a single thing related to Xmas and I''m irked! They asked if HE wanted to come over next wednesday again, for lunch, and again, he works. So I''m like

annoyed. I don''t want them to spend the holidays alone, but what else do I do? Unfortunately, inviting them to my parents would not work, and same with inviting them over. (physically impossible to get them in the houses because of the wheels they are sporting- wheel chairs).

I''ve pretty much concluded his family hates me (I have not seen them for almost two years now and they live a half mile away) and I will never have a father-in-law or mother-in-law. *shrug* I am completely jealous of you ladies that have caring mother-in-laws!!

 

[that_someone_special]

Date: 12/23/2009 12:19:25 PM
Author: tlh
I''mactually glad we don''t live close to hubby relatives. They all gather and it is a cluster f of people on Christmas. I''m used to small intimate family gatherings. May be why I have chosen in 5 years NOT to fly back for the holidays (even though I couldnt get off work anyway)...


So I''m a little nervous about the time spending Christmas with a bunch of strangers to be honest. But we''ll be expected to attend, if we''re close by... so I feel ya!


Weird part is his family has an intimate Christmas party 3 days BEFORE Christmas, and then goes on to the huge family thing. So it scares me a little, because Christmas Day has always been a very quiet day for me, to love and appreciate my nearest and dearest - not a bunch of crazy drunk hooligans with which I share some bloodlines. (or in this case - not)


I may just be nervous because I''ve never gone back for it... but man, these people can put away some brown liquer...

That sounds like my kind of party!!!!!!

 

[Haven]

Our families have been doing all of the holidays together since long before we were engaged. I have very little family in this country, and DH has a big local family, so it wasn''t that difficult to merge. I don''t even remember how it all happened, but we shared one holiday three or four years ago, and then we just started doing all of them together ever since.

Granted, my mom and I host more holidays than not, which is a bit funny since my side makes up only five adults and three kids, while DH''s side has over 20 adults and nine kids. We like entertaining, though, so it works.

As far as what has changed beside that--I, too, have had to get used to giving gifts to children who don''t say thank you. I feel your pain there, Zhu. My family is really strict about proper thank you notes, so it took me a while to come to terms with the fact that this is the way DH''s family does it, and it''s not the kids'' fault that they don''t know how to properly thank people, so we don''t want to punish them. (I am teaching my niece and nephew about thank you notes, though. We''re close enough that I can do that without seeming rude.)

Other than that, our holidays have just gotten much bigger, louder, and more expensive. But I really love it. I''ve always wanted a lot of family around, and now I have that. When our house was bursting with people on Chanukah I teared up a little. There were so many kids running around, and so many adults laughing and having fun together.

 

[AmberGretchen]

Well, I''m Jewish and hubby is Catholic, so my holidays changed a lot - we''ve started celebrating Christmas, have a tree, listen to Christmas music, etc...but still light Chanukah candles as well.

 

[zoebartlett]

If we choose to stay in our new state (far away from our family and most friends), we might not get home every year for the holidays. So that may be the biggest change in how we celebrate.

Overall, I wouldn''t say that things have changed so much now that we''re married. Things definitely changed since my husband and I got together though.

For the last 5 years, we''ve spent Christmas Eve with my husband''s family in his hometown. He''s the youngest of 5, and everyone else has nieces and nephews (who are mostly in their 20s). We choose names out of a hat around Thanksgiving, and we only get a gift for the person''s name we draw (and we get something for my ILs). Everyone brings food and we spend the evening chatting, eating, and it''s a lot of fun being together.

We''ve spent Christmas Day with my family (parents, sister, and BIL). I have a much smaller family than my husband does. It''s a much quieter affair and after breakfast, we just hang out for the day. We usually go to a family friend''s house on Christmas night for dessert. That''s been a tradition every year for as long as I can remember.

 

[4ever]

Not mairred here either but this will be my 2nd christmas with BF. Last time (two years ago) I was in the UK and spent Christmas with his family and just went along with their usually christmas traditions, food, activities and it was really good.
This year he''s with my family for christmas and I''m a little anoyed he can''t just let us get on with Christmas our way to see how we do it, instead he want''s to have what his parents usually make for Christmas and doesn''t like some things because that''s not how he does Christmas. I''d understand if we had our own place and were doing our own Christma and would comprimise then, but I just think it''s a bit rude to try and change my traditional family Christmas meal to somthing he''d prefer more.

Rant over.

 

[D&T]

I was a little surprise that DH''s family ONLY bought gifts for the adults and somewhat has been very priveldged growing up with very nice brand name items, so they all get used to brand named items. When we got married, I felt a little anxious in buying gifts for them because of the "brand" name must have

My family like to buy gifts for the kids in the family so when our DDs came, she got zero gift for xmas (I was a bit shocked) from DH side not that we needed any of their presents, but the fact that the aunts and uncle couldn''t think of her....ok I must have been a bit emotional since I had her in November and had to deal with DH''s family for the holidays right after. DD was the first niece in DH''s family so maybe they just didn''t have a clue - I don''t know. Fast forward one more year, SIL has her first DD,,,, ok, all the family members HAD to buy her DD a gift!.... anyways, I made a little comment when SIL asked how we celebrated christmas with my family and I just stated(didn''t realize she made a mental note that now every year she gets our DDs something for christmas) that we actually buy more for the kids and really nothing for the adults but DH''s family is quite the opposite. Anyways, we''re tyring to mesh the two traditions in one, and its getting a bit expensive right now and just exhausting. Sorry for ranting, maybe i"m just a bit disappointed that thoughtful personalized gifts DH and I give his family, they don''t care for, and I get too emotional over it

*sigh*

 

[musey]

Every family has different traditions, but thankfully, both of our families are very laid-back when it comes to holidays.

The only important change is that now, instead of just going wherever my parents were going to be, we flipflop years going where my parents are going to be OR where his are going to be. It's actually worked out quite conveniently, because my brother and hubs' parents live in the same city, and hubs is an only child... so whenever we have holidays at my in-laws', my side of the family flies in to stay at my brother's house and we all party together. Whenever we have holidays at my parents', my in-laws fly in to stay with them and we all party together. I'm thankful that our families are so flexible, and get along so well

Other than that, not much else feels different!

 

[zhuzhu]

Date: 12/23/2009 12:37:53 PM
Author: swedish bean
Oh boy. I''m still engaged but I have taken over all of the gift buying AND WRAPPING. Thanks sweetie! The thing that is bothering me the most is that my family invited us over Xmas eve AND Xmas day which is normal to me. His family asked HIM (and not me) to come over for lunch today... but he was working so that didn''t work. They have not asked us to do a single thing related to Xmas and I''m irked! They asked if HE wanted to come over next wednesday again, for lunch, and again, he works. So I''m like

annoyed. I don''t want them to spend the holidays alone, but what else do I do? Unfortunately, inviting them to my parents would not work, and same with inviting them over. (physically impossible to get them in the houses because of the wheels they are sporting- wheel chairs).


I''ve pretty much concluded his family hates me (I have not seen them for almost two years now and they live a half mile away) and I will never have a father-in-law or mother-in-law. *shrug* I am completely jealous of you ladies that have caring mother-in-laws!!

I am so sorry that your future IL made you feel that way~ That is not smart of them at all to only invite their son and not the future DIL. Hugs to you and I think you should have your fiance talk to his family about it! Afterall you do all the gift shopping and wrapping on is behalf, he should know better to include you in more.

 

[JSM]

Date: 12/23/2009 12:16:45 PM
Author: ChemGeek
Date: 12/23/2009 12:05:21 PM


Wow, I think you just read my mind and said it better than I could have! Although we don't have as far to travel and we are very lucky to get to go to both places, Christmas with my family is WAY more FUN! Everyone talks and laughs and tells stories and it get so loud!! I haven't been to Christmas with his family yet, but I have a feeling it'll be his dad handing each kid a card with some cash and sitting around watching tv, chatting, and staring at the wall (and having to eat his dad's girlfriend's bad cooking...I'm hoping for pizza carry-out honestly, and I know FI is too! hehe). I don't care about the gifts at all; we both have everything we need in life and everything we could want, so it's not even about gifts we may or may not get, but it seems like it will be boring and not as lively and loud and cheery as it will be with my extended family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! I hope his dad doesn't think I'm 'stealing' him on Christmas Eve/Christmas Morning (we'll still be there by Christmas night!) They really are great people, and I don't mind going there ever, but it's just not as FUN! So I totally get it when you say it's not your idea of a Holiday. I hope everything goes better than hoped for you, though!!

I hope things go well for you, too (and hopefully you get a decent meal!). Splitting time between two families can be so difficult, and who can blame everyone? We all want just a little more time.

Gifts really are secondary to me as well, it's more about having fun(!) and relaxing with your family.

I shouldn't have complained, we got 2 hours into our drive tonight before we had to turn around and come home. Silly midwest blizzards.

Ironically, I think I am more disappointed than he is - we don't know anyone here and it will just be the two of us for Christmas. I'd much rather be with his family than not, and I'm feeling very guilty that his mom won't get to see him like she was looking forward to.

So my hard learned lesson of the day - be careful what you wish for, as you just might get it!

 

[JSM]

Date: 12/23/2009 12:28:52 PM
Author: stephbolt

Date: 12/23/2009 12:05:21 PM

Author: jsm

We can''t split holidays because his family is 7 hours in one direction, and mine is 5 hours away in the other direction, so we have to choose one or the other. According to his family it''s not fair that I ''stole'' him the past few Christmases (though it was HIS choice to come with me), so we''re visiting his family this year. The thing is, he hates Christmas and there are no real plans for the weekend.


This is hard because I have a very large family with a lot of things to do on Christmas. We laugh, have certain meals, go certain places, and exchange hilarious gifts and stories. Christmas in my family is FUN! Now we are going to his family to basically sit around and watch TV. But fair is fair I guess. They are nice people but this is not my idea of a holiday!

This is exactly how I feel about FIs family! We went up there for Thanksgiving, and it was basically, go over to Aunt''s house, eat, leave. Whereas my family would be, show up, talk, games, apps, talk, dinner, talk, more games, etc. etc. It was really depressing for me to think about the huge get together I was missing.


We are going to my parents for Christmas this year, but I''m already dreading the next year a bit. I don''t want to give up all our fun xmas traditions!

It is definitely hard to think about what you are missing, I know how you feel about this! Hopefully you can have extra fun this year at Christmas (maybe your FI will want to go back

). I''m trying (unsuccessfully thus far) to convince my DH to do his family for Thanksgiving and my family for Christmas every year. After this years debacle (can''t go due to weather), I think he may be more inclined to agree.

 

[Squirrly]

until this year, FI and i alternated thanksgivings and stayed with our respective families for christmas, but he didn''t know how many days he''d have off this year for t-day so i just stayed here.

the plan (we''ll see how successful this is lol) for married life is to alternate christmas and t-day between our families. i think for holidays when he''s deployed i''ll most likely go visit my family for both and visit with his family for other times (possibly easter and new year''s if i don''t meet up with friends)

 

[studyer83]

My husbands family is, in general, more formal than mine. So meals, conversations, "hanging out," etc....just more formal. Even their decor is more formal than my families -- not necessarily more expensive/fancy, just more formal. It makes me feel like I have to be "on" so much more of the time. Of course I would feel that way anyways, I guess. So going to my family for the holidays is super relaxed, but his, much less so. I do appreciate some of the more formal (but not uptight..) aspects of his family and we have adopted some of their traditions as our own.

 

[Rhea]

There hasn''t been much change for us. Even while we were dating bought stuff for the families and sent cards. We alternate where we spend our years, that''s the only difference for us.

 

[ChocolateLover]

A little late replying to this topic... but we have to fit in three families over Christmas. My parents have been divorced since I was two and I''m somewhat close to both sides - not to mention both of my parents live about a 4 hour drive away from our place (and 1 hour away from each other).

This year we spent Christmas eve & Christmas morning at the BF''s, then Christmas dinner (4 hour drive on Christmas day) at my Dad''s, then another hour drive to my mom''s after dinner - to have brunch the next day. I sure did miss my own bed over the holiday''s!

Very happy to be back home and not in the car. Our traditions are similar in both family''s, but it''d be really nice to experience just one. Sadly, parents tend to lay guilt trips if you''re unable to make their place for dinner. At least my parents are used to their kids not making it every year, but this is a first for my BF''s parents so the guilt trip was the worst from them. Next year we vowed to pick only one, and it''ll probably be his parents.

I did most of the shopping for our families, but we did some shopping together. My BF has a hard time coming up with good ideas but working together we did okay!

Any other after Christmas stories?

 

[elrohwen]

I''m an only child and our extended family is very far away, so holidays at my house have always been very quiet. DH only has a mom and a sister and their relatives aren''t close, so it was kind of similar for them. Our moms have become pretty close, so now we''ve just merged holidays and celebrate them together. It''s still pretty quiet with only 6 people, which I like. I''m not sure I could deal with a big crazy family!

 

[fieryred33143]

I am not married yet but our families do the holidays very differently.

They have a huge dinner on Christmas Eve starting at about 8pm. Then they all sit around and wait until midnight to exchange gifts. They do not open the gifts, they exchange. The next day they get together again and eat all of the leftovers.

My family does not open gifts on Christmas Eve. We go to church, sleep early, and open gifts in the morning. Then we spend all of Christmas in pjs watching movies and enjoying our new gifts.

The way FI''s family celebrates is not a huge inconvenience to me but I find myself getting more and more tired as I get older. We literally sat around for 3 hours doing nothing waiting for the clock to hit midnight to open gifts. This made no sense to me. The only child there was my DD who is 6 months old and doesn''t know the difference. Then they didn''t even bother to open the gifts. His cousin, who lives next door, grabbed all of her gifts and took them to her house. His parents didn''t open their gifts from us until the next morning when they called to thank us.

We also have to get gifts for everyone. Again, doesn''t make sense to me. I never see his cousins. As a matter of fact, one of his cousin''s that was there I had not seen since Thanksgiving 2008. And the gifts they exchange are silly things like a pack of socks or a pack of underwear. I personally think it would be much better to save the $4.99, have an early dinner, and then go home.

 

[zhuzhu]

I am just happy that the official gift-giving holiday is over. We have had to prepare gifts for over 10 people, including FIL and his wife, but in return we got nothing (the fact that we are adults)!