Christmas Post-Marriage

For us, Christmas is about family and New Year is about our friends. So far we've alternated between his parents and my mum's for Christmas (she is on her own, my dad has a partner who has her family over).

Over the festive period we travel to make sure we see both sets of parents and my siblings - a rather dull 1200 mile round trip, nice!  We want to do this all the time it's easier for us, than them, to travel but I suspect that when we have children we'll be more likely to say 'This is where we'll be, come to us'! We'll see, you can never really tell when families get involved!

Hope all of you travelling over Christmas have safe journeys and that whatever you may do/wherever you may be, you have a super time. Take it easy on the sprouts though, global warming and all that, eh? 

We are in a similar situation we live in the midlands but my parents are in the North East, we alternate every year, but we dont have children, I can see us still alternating even when we do have kids, just because I love being with my family on Christmas Day, even when we are at PIL on Christmas Day we travel to my parents early morning Boxing Day, I wiouldnt have it any other way.

OH's mother lives in the US so we won't be seeing her over Christmas and we thankfully never see his dad as he's a waste of space who seems to delight in screwing up his children's lives.  My parents are carers for my grandparents, so we firstly go round to my Mum's, open our presents and spend a short time with just my parents, and then we go down to my Nan's and have lunch. 

As my grandparents are in quite poor health, I suspect this will be the last year we do Christmas this way. 

Me and OH usually go away for New Year.

I should say, given the choice I would be sitting on a hot beach with OH and maybe even my mom, which is perhaps what we will be doing in 2012 if I am not heavily pregnant by then.

I went away for Xmas for the first time the year before I met OH and it was amazing. Admitedly the whole family go, there was 18 of us in 2008 and there will be 25 this year (not including me, OH or my brother this year though).

Since H and I got together we've alternated, but this year we're going to be at home, lazy late dinner, lots of champers...We'll be seeing both sets of family over the xmas period though

Im probably in a minority here - but Ive never has christmas dinner with my fiance and this is our 2nd christmas living together...and I honestly dont see our traditions / routines changing after we get married until we have children.....

He goes to his aunts for each year and Ive always went to my folks - and we both love what we do - we meet up at night time again & it works perfectly for us. So while were happy (and our families because for us christmas is all about spending time with your family) we'll continue to do our separate ways for christmas dinner

We seem to spend the whole Xmas holiday shlepping up and down motorways to visit the parents and in laws. I dream of a Crimbo at home I really do! But then I cant take the precious grand children away from their grandmas and grandads at Christmas.

So until we win the Lottery and buy a 10 bedroom house it'll be packing up the car and driving around for us!

the year b4 last we spent it just the 2 of us and t was lovely, then last year we went to my brothers with my mum and had a blast, this year we wer planning on going over to N.Ireland to spend it with OH's family but it ended up causing too much of a hassel and OH was reminded why he didnt bother going hme for xmas!

so with one brother with his OH's family and the other brother lives in Geneva and mum is going there, we decided to just stay at home the 2 of us. OH's BM live a 15 min walk away so they have invited us for xmas dinner and i'll catch up with my UK based brother between xmas and new year.

i think in the years to come we will alternate between the 2 of us at home and my family. and hopefully in the not too distant future we will have a house and be able to invite folks to ours!

Christmas day is also our anniversary but we've still never spend a Christmas dinner together!

I really am a Bah Humbag about all things xmas related and am not the best person to be around to be honest. OH stays with me on christmas eve, I stay at mine for dinner (never remotely festive!) and he goes down to his mum's with his sister (for all the trimmings)

My family have never really been that big on xmas - especially when the kids were all older so my parents usually go away on holiday. I always nip down to his mum's at night for a wee drinky pohs but still sleep at mine at night.

I don't see any of this changing when we're married.