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Have you ever celebrated Thanksmas/Christgiving?
We do every other year! Cam and her family, me and my family, and our (Nic&Cam’s) parents live in southern California, all about an hour away from each other (depending on traffic). My husband’s family lives closer to us, so we are always able to spend the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays with them. However, Cam’s in-laws live further away.
That is how Thanksmas/Christgiving came about.
Each year, Cam’s family alternates where they spend Thanksgiving and Christmas. If they are with us for Thanksgiving, they will be with her in-laws for Christmas, and vice versa. As a result, when we are together for Thanksgiving, it becomes Thanksmas/Christgiving (pick your preference!). We exchange gifts, and it’s certainly a great excuse to be able to put up the Christmas decor prior to Thanksgiving! The kids like it, because they feel like they’re getting a full Christmas experience twice in one year!
How do you navigate family gatherings at the holidays? Please share in the comments below!
My husband and I have been married for over eight years. Due to our living arrangements (my 17yo son from my first marriage lives with my parents since he grew up there and wanted to finish school in his school district) and the fact that my husband and I are both blessed to have our families nearby, Thanksgiving and Christmas has always been more than a day or two. Every year we all have to negotiate what days we’ll all celebrate with each other (my parents aren’t “people” people and they aren’t comfortable conversing with my in-laws, so having everyone over to our home never seems to be an option. I hope to change that soon (I was supposed to put my foot down this year, but then I started my own blog and all plans went out the window! LOL). Now that he and I have two children together (ages 4 & 1), it’s so much more work to pack up everyone to celebrate everywhere else! The holidays are so important to me, I couldn’t imagine celebrating them together-I’d NEED that month of prep in between!
Sounds like you’ve got a good start though! Yes, it’s definitely tricky to get the young kids (and all their stuff) to other places. P.S. Our celebrations are pretty low key. Many times we’re still in our PJs for opening gifts, the Christmas tree is the only “big” decoration, and the meal prep is shared by several people.