Christmas 2024 Round - Up

˜”*°•.˜”*°• Christmas was great! •°*”˜.•°*”˜

We spent Christmas Eve with my in-laws for the first time in 17 years. We usually go after Christmas but this year we went on the eve which was so nice! We stopped years ago because they tend to wait until midnight to open gifts and as a mom with two young kids. Didn't like having two overtired babies wait until midnight, drive 50 minutes back home and then get two sleeping children hopefully into their beds, put presents under the tree praying they wouldn't wake and try to get a few hours in before they woke to open their presents "from Santa".

PLUS they didn't get to do my tradition which was leaving cookies and milk for Santa, putting reindeer food outside, listening to a Christmas story or watching a Christmas movie and going to bed excited for Santa. I felt like that Christmas magic was being missed and I really wanted it for them. It is such a short lived moment in their childhood but the memories last forever. 

While one of my sister-in-laws was really annoyed when I told her that very first missed Christmas that she didn't understand "my tradition" because Christmas was about being together with all the kids and how important her families tradition was, I felt my families tradition was just as important but the kids enjoyed opening their gifts after a good night's sleep, weren't overtired and crying and then forced to go to bed instead of playing with their gifts. We usually went the day after Christmas to my in-laws because I found it wrong to have my kids open gifts then leave them to get in the car to drive out on Christmas Day.

People are different and I get it that not everything works for everyone but my husband was in agreement and I would never change my kids' Christmases. They were so much fun.

But....now they are older and Christmas Eve at my in-laws was really nice. We ate, played Uno, Facetimed my niece in CA and opened gifts earlier than they usually do which we really appreciated. 

I LOVED it!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. What was your favorite part?