What do you do for Christmas?

[DianaB]

I'm trying to figure out what to do for our family for Christmas this year and I would love some ideas especially from those who have grown and married children (we also have some grandchildren).

Last year we played the Santa game (where you draw a number then you can open a gift or steal a gift--a lot of fun in a big group, but we didn't have enough people). The year before we paid a guy to come down with an airplane and had him give everyone a ride. We've also rented motel rooms and gone to Wichita to the Exploration Place (a children's museum) and out to eat.

A gift exchange doesn't work to well because there aren't enough of us. Do you know of any games or have any ideas to make it fun. We bought everyone a can of silly string one year and had a silly string fight in the basement (it was a blast!!!)

So what do you do for Christmas or do you have any ideas for me??

[Janet]

Sounds like your Christmas is more of a party than ours is. We just gather together, eat and open presents, nothing really exciting. On both sides of the family when the last few kids were little, we all decided not to buy for adults, just got too expensive and just buy for the kids. Well the kids are all older now too so all we buy for is our parents. We only have my mom and his step-mom.

We get together with my two brothers and thier families at my mom's on the 23rd to celebrate. There is always nit picking going on and people acting like brats so we go late and leave early. Basically we are there long enough to eat a snack or two, let mom open her presents and then leave.

On hubby's side, his step-mom is in a nursing home so we celebrated there with her on Christmas eve. My mom then comes out when we get home and spends the night and then the four of us open our gifts Christmas morning. She then leaves to eat dinner at my brothers house.

Pretty non-eventful, but no one is willing to change anything except my husband and I.

[DianaB]

This is just Christmas with our own family. We also have Christmas eve with my husband's aunts, uncles, and cousins. It's not something that I look forward to. They're not a real accepting family especially if you're "married" in and they're very opinionated. I have to be real careful about what I say and what I do. They only get together for a meal and visiting, no gifts. I'm always glad when it's over.

We've talked about cutting back and buying gifts just for the kids, but I have a college student and a high school student that I still get gifts for. To buy gifts for the grandchildren and my two daughters at home means that the only people that I'm leaving out are my married children and their spouses. That doesn't seem fair so I try to think of a family gift or something that we can do together. It really cuts down on my stress level when I don't have to buy individual gifts. That's why I'm looking for ideas!!

Janet---Maybe you should get some silly string!!!!!

[Janet]

Originally Posted by DianaB

This is just Christmas with our own family. We also have Christmas eve with my husband's aunts, uncles, and cousins. It's not something that I look forward to. They're not a real accepting family especially if you're "married" in and they're very opinionated. I have to be real careful about what I say and what I do. They only get together for a meal and visiting, no gifts. I'm always glad when it's over.

We've talked about cutting back and buying gifts just for the kids, but I have a college student and a high school student that I still get gifts for. To buy gifts for the grandchildren and my two daughters at home means that the only people that I'm leaving out are my married children and their spouses. That doesn't seem fair so I try to think of a family gift or something that we can do together. It really cuts down on my stress level when I don't have to buy individual gifts. That's why I'm looking for ideas!!

Janet---Maybe you should get some silly string!!!!!

I just may have to get some.....and spray it down my one sister-in-laws throat. I know that doesn't sound nice, but I don't like her and she says awful things to my Mom. This year she just better not, because I decided I don't care if it ruins the holiday, I will put her in her place!!

[DianaB]

Maybe you can just make her your target!!! Just kidding!

It spoils things when you feel like you're on edge waiting for someone to say or do something. Whenever I'm really worried about being around someone I usually pray for the situation whenever it comes to my mind and I'll ask my family to be praying over it too. It always seems like things go alot smoother if I do that.

[RLC12345678]

Well my hubby's parents live about 1.5 hours away from us and my grandparents and parents live about 3 hours away from us. For Christmas Eve we always go to my hubby's parents' house and have all the traditional Christmas Eve festivities. We open presents, go to Church, have dinner, etc. Then on Christmas Day we wake up and drive to my grandparents' house and have lunch there with my parents and sisters and the rest of my side of the family. Then we go to my parents house and have dinner and spend a night or two then come back home.

[2tiredmom]

This Christmas will be a sad one for our families. First one with out my mom and
my husbands dad. I'm sure there will be a lot of crying. We don't do gifts.
Just get together and eat. Can't afford gifts only buy for our children.
But every year I get a pic of my 3 kiddies in front of the Christmas Tree. They are 22, 19 and 15 years old. My oldest daughter is pregnant and due Jan. 4th 07.
So maybe we will have a little one. I hope not cause that would be hard for him
having a birthday and Christmas at the same time. But it can be done so long as he is healthy.

What if you do something like a hot air balloon ride? Theyre kinda expensive ($500 for an hour, I think) but it would definitley be worth it!

[RLC12345678]

Originally Posted by 2tiredmom

This Christmas will be a sad one for our families. First one with out my mom and
my husbands dad. I'm sure there will be a lot of crying. We don't do gifts.
Just get together and eat. Can't afford gifts only buy for our children.
But every year I get a pic of my 3 kiddies in front of the Christmas Tree. They are 22, 19 and 15 years old. My oldest daughter is pregnant and due Jan. 4th 07.
So maybe we will have a little one. I hope not cause that would be hard for him
having a birthday and Christmas at the same time. But it can be done so long as he is healthy.

My family doesn't really do gifts either. We might get each other each something small, but we like to do charity work together during the holidays.

[DianaB]

Originally Posted by Gutu28

What if you do something like a hot air balloon ride? Theyre kinda expensive ($500 for an hour, I think) but it would definitley be worth it!

That would be a lot of fun, but we live in a very small community and we're 100 miles from any large cities that would have hot air balloons. Do they even give rides in the winter? Thanks for the idea though!

[magnolia]

The only thing special we do is spend the day together My sister and her family come up at Thanksgiving and we have our Christmas with them then so when Christmas actually arrives, it's just mye, hubby, our boys, my mom, and my younger brother. We go to church on Christmas Eve together (unless hubby is at the fire station, then it's just me, the boys, and my mom). We go home and have something light for supper then watch a movie together or play cards. Christmas morning, it's time for presents! Each year, I try to make a treasure hunt out of at least one of the boy's gifts - they really enjoy the "hunt" I plan to do the same thing again this year and will probably continue to do so until they are out of the house.....then I'll do it with any grandkids. Then, later in the day, my mom and brother come over along with my younger sister and her 2 kids and we'll open gifts, eat, and just be lazy - the boys will usually play football in the yard unless it's raining. When the time comes that my mom is no longer with us, I'd like to go to the mountains for Christmas - I think that would be so much fun!

[SweetCuteness]

We don't really do anything terribly exciting over the holidays either. Although, I must admit it's really nice that my boyfriend is Jewish because we'll never have to argue over where we're spending Christmas! We're flying back to Oregon for 8 days for Christmas this year. Every year, we spend Christmas Eve with my mom's side of the family. We play the white elephant game where you pick a number, then pick a gift or steal a gift. The last few years we've made the same such that we have to make our own gift. Last year we decided we would have a themed gift that we had to make.... this year the theme is a plunger. LOL. You can make anything you want, but it has to use a plunger. Should be interesting. Then we eat and open real gifts. Then we'll get up bright and early Christmas morning and go to my dad's... spend the whole day just hanging out with the fam, eating, drinking, and being merry! Then we're going to go snowmobiling. Pretty uneventful... but this will be the longest I've ever been away from my family - 5 months. I'm so excited already!

[lynne b]

well i think i dread the holidays more & more every year, it gets to be such a hassel and i know a few years down the road i will regret saying this but right now it's just so hard. my mom lives about an hr away from me , alone now that my dad is gone, but even before he passed because of illness we go to their house . well i have 3 grown married children and just recieved my 6th grandchild this year , so i have to take all of my presents out to my moms and most of the food now cause mom is getting to the age that she cant handle doing things like she use to. dont get me wrong i love my mom dearly and would not ever let her spend christmas or any other holiday alone it's just that i really dont buy alot for the grandkid's during the year but i usually make up for it at x-mas so i tend to have alot of packages to haul out to my mom's and then she has alot of packages also because she buy's for the grandkids & great grandkids . and then since my kids are grown they also have other inlaw families that they need to go visit plus i am divorced from their father so they have to spend time with their father's side of the family so trying to figure out which day and what time everyone can get together is an ordeal in it's self. so you can see i am exhausted even before the day get's there. i would love to just be able to stay at home and tell the kids whenever you get here is fine the food & gifts will be here so long as i get to see them sometime that day. like i said i know i will regret saying these things later on down the road because someday my mom wont be here and i will miss her so much . i just cant imagine my life without my mom, she has always went above and beyond for everyone so i will continue to do this for her but i would really rather just stay home and cook the meal and have the kids here. am i being selfish.

[Janet]

Not selfish at all. Maybe some one could pick her and the gifts up and bring her to your house. She may like not having to have everyone and everything at her house. Have you asked? It may be a relief to her.

Now my Mom on the other won't change for nobody. It's either her way or the highway.