Living away from family for a few years left us in the position to enjoy the holiday without all that running around and stuff.
One of the things we noticed is that we were made to feel obligated to visit certain family members, but those people would be available at certain times, so we wound up with a lot more unnecessary driving. Say Grandpa Sally was available until noon, but Grandma Eggbert only between 10 and 2... on the other side of town. And then the Big Bash with other family 2 hours away from the Eggberts at 3.
Well, we've put our foot down. No more Crazy Driving on Christmas Day. We were faced with a situation where one family was available until a certain time and with other plans for the day, we wouldn't have time to really enjoy ourselves and relax before having to hustle off somewhere else.
So we said no, it's not possible. And you know what... The World didn't End. [Of course, this wasn't with the family member who is the problem. We were just well conditioned by one member that we'd rearrange and hustle for everyone else even if they didn't ask for it.]
We may wind up with 12 Days of Christmas, but I'd much rather have 12 Days than 12 hours in one Day in the car. {exaggeration}
The plans we've made for the alternate day look pretty good. =)
