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and purpose into your life.
If you come from a broken home or a very large, close family, you probably have had a few holidays of bouncing around from place to place… If you are new to the multi-house holiday you are in luck!
Let me first explain why I am so good at these things, then I will let you in on some of my tips on how to make this jammed packed day run more smoothly for you and everyone else you are dragging along with you.
Some of you may already know that when I was 2.5 my parents divorced, and quite frankly ugly hardly explains it sometimes. I am pretty sure both of my parents know what the word compromise means. However, just because we know the meaning of a word does not mean we must put it into practice. Now if it was only the two households perhaps this wouldn’t be such an issue.
As if only in an effort to make things more complicated for everyone, my dad married into a very large, very family-centered Italian family. On holidays like Christmas we could have to visit 3 different places just for my step mother’s side.
I also forgot to mention that my father’s mom is was also divorced… twice. At some point in my childhood I had my dad’s dad’s house I needed to go to. And for some reason my mom rekindled a relationship with my dad’s stepdad for a short period of time. Is your brain ready to explode yet?
For Christmas every year, my sisters and I saw 9 houses for the Holidays!! That is just sheer insanity. Not to mention if you added in good friends of the family and such — I am exhausted just writing about it!
Thankfully, Thanksgiving was a little calmer, but it is also only ONE day instead of being able to spread it out over at least 2 if not more. Regardless there was always at least 3 houses I was dragged to, and eventually found my way to during Thanksgiving.
First, I want you to be sure that you know, there is definitely some planning that goes into this.
Multi-house holiday dinners can be fun and productive if you do them right. With a little planning, self control, and positivity you can make the most out of any hectic holiday hopping adventure.
Please keep in mind these are not full-proof. You may hurt someone’s feelings who is used to having you all to themselves for the full day. A kid could get super cranky from being dragged across the state and back again. Regardless, they should be able to get you started on a better trajectory for a happy Thanksgiving.
We would love to hear about your multi-house holiday stories! Feel free to share them below or email us at [email protected]
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