Parenting

s/o holidays..staying w/family- WWYD?

MrsT0514MrsT0514 member
edited October 2014 in Parenting
We live about 2 hrs away (out of state) from all of our family. Before we started having babies and all that jazz, DH and I had no issue driving down to stay with our family over the holidays (usually a 2-3 day stay split between my family and in laws).

Even once we had DS, we keep the set up the same. Christmas eve with my family, staying at my mom's house (she has 2 spare rooms, one of which has a crib set up, the other has a queen size bed, which makes staying there pretty easy, bc we have a good amount of space..plus there's a guest bathroom).

Christmas day is with my in-laws, staying at my MILs house. DH's family is huge, and holidays celebrations with them are usually a loud, drunken affair, where more than half the family ends up staying at my MILs house also bc they're too drunk to drive. We usually get put in the guest room in the basement, where DS sleeps in a PnP and we sleep in the full bed. The only bathroom is upstairs.

Dh and I recently discussed that with me being 9 months pg this Christmas and us adding another child to our mix come next year, our holiday traveling arrangements are definitely going to change, but we're not sure how so yet. So it'll take some experimenting with different things. But either way, staying at his mom's house all crammed into one basement bedroom (with soon to be a toddler and infant), where his family stays up drinking/yelling/playing cards all hours of the night w/ the only bathroom located upstairs wasn't going to work anymore.

So I said, starting this yr, we can either rent a hotel room for the few days, or I'd just drive back to my mom's (only 10 min away from my inlaws) to get DS down and sleep there again after we celebrate Christmas day with my inlaws, since its quiet and we have more space. He got a little pissy about it and said "well ok, whatever you have to do, but it's ridiculous to pay for a hotel room". I agree, when my mom has plenty of space abd has offered for us to stay as long as we'd like.

I mean, he understands that with us traveling with 2 kids, and his huge family all cramming into his mom's house, there just isnt enough space, but I also dont want him thinking I'm just looking for an excuse to stay with my family instead of his. Its seriously just that its quieter and there's more space. Even if it was the other way around, I'd want to stay at the quieter place. When I asked if he had any better ideas, he didnt say much. I told him he's welcome to stay at his mom's later than DS and I if he wanted to play cards and hang w/ his family, but that I'd just take DS to my mom's to get him down to sleep. I asked him if he'd end up driving to my mom's later to stay with us for the night or he'd end up just sleeping at his mom's he said he'd end up playing by ear (he doesnt drink so the driving isnt an issue for him).

Sorry for the tl; dr, but WWYD? Would you be ok with YH staying at a different place than you and the kids Christmas night? I feel like due to the screwy arrangement, I shouldnt put up a stink bc its just where we're sleeping, and he'll be with us Christmas eve/day anyway, but idk. WWYD? Im sure I'm over thinking this.
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Re: s/o holidays..staying w/family- WWYD?

  • MrsT0514MrsT0514 member
    edited October 2014
    @K3am‌ I tend to agree, that it would feel weird not having him staying at thesame place as us, but honestly, whether it's my moms or a hotel, his mom is still bound to put up a stink...she tends to over react about everything and only thinks of how things affect her. So in order to save him a guilt trip and argument with her, I try to pick my battles. Kwim?
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  • edited October 2014
    I'd stay with your family. So what if your MIL doesn't like it. Do what's easiest for your family.
  • MrsT0514MrsT0514 member
    edited October 2014
    K3am said:

    I couldn't put up with that.. DH's family is similar, but eventually even DH came around to the fact that we have different stages in life, and at this point, assuming there's no life or limb at stake, the family he created comes first, not the one he was born into. 


    I also think he knows to fear my wrath more than his father's. (His dad is the true woman in that relationship, but that's another story.)
    Oh dont get me wrong, he definitely knows when to put up a fight with her, and he does. When push comes to shove, DS and i come first to him, but I think part of this equation is that, we really only see his family on the holidays, so he hates to cut into that time with them, since its so limited, which I definitely understand to an extent.
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  • We always stayed at my parents house for holiday when visiting.  They're like 15 min from the IL.  We had a king sized bed in one room, and 2 cribs in an other room.

    Our IL are a lot like yours.  And my parents house was calm and quiet.  Sometimes, I would put DS1 down and my mom would listen to the monitor and we go back to the IL.  

    I'm all about sleep, if no one sleeps we're not having a good vacation.  That being said, at 9 months pregnant i wasn't traveling anywhere.
    To my boys:  I will love you for you Not for what you have done or what you will become I will love you for you I will give you the love The love that you never knew
  • @Hawkward‌ are you one my long lost SILs or something?? Lol. Literally, we have the same family!

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  • My parents and ILs are less than ten minutes away from each other (a 5hr drive from us).  Before DD, honestly DH and I used to split up when we stayed home, just to spend the max amount of time with our families as possible.  So I would have no problem splitting up, even on Christmas.

    Now we stay at his parents- they have the 2 guest bedrooms/bathroom.  In fact DD and I stay there 99% of the time even when DH doesn't make the trip with us because it's flat out easier (many reasons) but my parents understand and are fine with this arrangement. 
  • Yeah, I mean, I really DGAF what MIL thinks of our sleeping arrangements. I'm going to take my kids to wherever is calmest and quietest (if those are even words, ha). Bc they come first.

    Chance are, DH will prob end up sleeping where we are for the night, but I feel like if I'm going to make a stink about not staying at his mom's house, I should at least give him the option to stay with them and enjoy himself if he chooses. Although I'd prefer him to be with us.

    Believe me, he sees how crazy my ILs get when they drink and the drama that usually ensues, and he bitches about how his family is a bunch of drunks, and so on/so forth. he also agrees that its not a good environment for our kids to be around when they get drunk. They annoy him, but nonetheless they're his family.
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  • @wesleycrusher‌ Yeah, I'mhoping that MIL will be so busy with hosting Christmas that she wont even care where we're sleeping. The important thing is that we're there to celebrate the holidays with each of our families.
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  • -auntie- said:

    How about you start making traditions at your own house with your own little family?


    Team kids should wake up Christmas mornings in their own beds.


    @-auntie-‌ oh I totally agree with you. The only reason we're still doing Xmas eve out of state this year is bc DS is only gonna be 2 in January, so he doesnt really get the whole Santa thing yet. We plan to stay home on xmas eve to wake up in our own house starting next year (plus we'll have 2 kiddos to wrangle next yr).
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  • -auntie- said:
    How about you start making traditions at your own house with your own little family?

    Team kids should wake up Christmas mornings in their own beds.


    This is a nice thought (making our own traditions, etc.), but in the end I would rather spend Christmas surrounded by my extended family.  But my mom has some serious health issues, so I will always travel to see her on holidays. always.  
  • MrsT0514MrsT0514 member
    edited October 2014
    Yeah, I mean...dh and I agree, when our kids are old enough to understand the whole concept of christmas and santa, its importabt to us to have them wake up in their own beds at home. But both of us still agree that it'd be nice to celebrate rhe holiday with family as well.

    Our thought process is that next year, we'll probably stay home for xmas eve (my parents have already offered to come up here to celebrate xmas eve with us), so we can wake up at home and do christmas morning w/ the kids, then we'll make thw drive down to visit family for christmas day dinner, etc. So I guess we'll see.
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  • MrsT0514MrsT0514 member
    edited October 2014
    @CTGirl30‌ I agree that it'd be ridiculous for a grown woman to have a fit over her grown son not sleeping at her house, but...i wouldn't put it past her. My MIL can be pretty ridiculous.

    Over the years, MH has definitely come a long way in standing up to her though. Push comes to shove, he knows that family we've created comes before anyone/anything else, and he always puts us first. But I also get that he doesnt see his family ever besides holidays pretty much (they dont make much of an effort to come visit us), so he wants to spend some quality time with them.
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  • Plus, I wish we could host a holiday here, but our house is fucking tiny..we just dont have the room for it.
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  • We still alternate holidays. My ILs live 5hrs away by car. I suppose this is a UO, but Christmas is where you make it and if that's at my ILs every other year, then I'm okay w that.

    Their house is too small and now that there is 5 of us, we take up way too much room. But we live 20-30min from my family and see them all the time. We also coordinate holidays w my SIL and BIL who live cross-country. So it's nice to see them, too.

    I'd want to be together, so I'd just deal w it. It's not that many days and it's every other year.

    I pick my battles w my ILs and this is not one I choose to fight.
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  • My Christmas present from dh, in your case, would be a night alllll alone in a bed by myself. I love him, but if we've already spent Christmas eve and day together, I see no harm in him crashing elsewhere after a party. I'd stay at your mom's and let him sleep where ever after his parents party.

    Married DH 7/30/11

    CSC arrived 5/7/12 

    CHC arrived 6/2/14

  • -auntie- said:


    MrsT0514 said:

    -auntie- said:

    How about you start making traditions at your own house with your own little family?


    Team kids should wake up Christmas mornings in their own beds.


    @-auntie-‌ oh I totally agree with you. The only reason we're still doing Xmas eve out of state this year is bc DS is only gonna be 2 in January, so he doesnt really get the whole Santa thing yet. We plan to stay home on xmas eve to wake up in our own house starting next year (plus we'll have 2 kiddos to wrangle next yr).

    At 9 months, will your ob clear you to be that far from the hospital where you're supposed to deliver? My ob wouldn't clear me to travel more than an hour away after 35 weeks because I was starting to efface and dilate. 

    I was wondering the same, and I'll of course double check with her, but when I was pg with DS (he was also a January baby- his due date was Jan 19th, this babys due date is the 17th), I asked at my 34 or 36wk appt about our travel plans for xmas and she said I was ok to travel, since I'd only be about 36wks along and wasnt dilated yet. Little did we know, DS ended up coming the week after (my water broke at 37w4d).

    I did mention to DH that this will all depend on how Im feeling/the progression of my pregnancy before xmas. i told him I wouldnt feel comfortable traveling if I was starting to dilate/efface at that point, which I'm sure my dr would say the same, and he agreed of course. So we'll be playing it by ear.
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  • Yeah, I mean...I'm pretty adamant about delivering at the hospital I plan to deliver at with my dr present (she was the one to delivery my son and I can only hope she's able to be present to deliver this one as well). I already told MH there's no way in hell I'm delivering in a random out of state hospital, so if at my 36wk appt, I'm showing signs of dilation/effacing, or my dr doesnt clear me for travel, we wont risk the drive.
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