Four Christmases make for happy kids – stressed out parents

Posted in Alicia's columns
by Alicia Castelli

The Christmas madness is over and my husband and I could not be happier. The kids got a lot of what they wanted and we managed to visit the whole family.

Every year we insist “next year we are not going to travel this much” and then, of course, we do just as much traveling as the year before.

We had hoped that moving to Cleveland would eliminate a large part of the traveling because my whole family is here. My husband’s family is in Pittsburgh, but they are great about gathering everyone together at once when we visit.

Oddly enough, this year my kids ended up with four Christmases. While the movie “Four Christmases” in theaters now deals with the stress of visiting divorced parents, ours is just a result of extended families that are spread out and have busy lives.

Our kids opened presents at our house Christmas morning and then we headed to my parents’ house that afternoon. Two gift fests in one day was a bit much and we put some very cranky kids on a sugar- and present-high to bed that night with a sigh of relief.

Two days later we headed to Pittsburgh for the day. Since my husband’s family is large, the kids had about eight gifts each to open there. They had a blast and we decided to stay late and drive home after dark hoping they’d fall asleep in the car.

They did fall asleep but unfortunately, when we hit the last toll booth the change in speed and sound in the car woke up our middle child who began to cry. Loudly. For the next 15 minutes. That woke up the other two so when we got home at 1 a.m. we had three kids who were wide-awake. Not good. Note to self: When going to Pittsburgh, plan to stay overnight or arrive very early in the day and leave at dinner time so the kids are ready for bed when we get home.

The next day we had our fourth and final Christmas at my brother’s house which was, mercifully, only a 40-minute drive. Usually my whole family gets together on one day but that didn’t work out this year. So our kids had four Christmases.

I’m not sure how I feel about that. On the one hand, it lengthens the holiday season which is hands down a favorite time for kids. On the other hand, it lengthens the holiday season which is one of the most stressful times for adults in every way possible.

Like most parents, my kids’ enjoyment comes first so four Christmases it was –  travel and all. And we’ll probably do the exact same thing next year.