Growing up with a dad as a pilot, we weren’t always able to celebrate holidays on the actual day if we wanted to celebrate as a family. Often, my dad would have to fly on Thanksgiving or Christmas or on our birthdays, so we would have our family celebration on another day that we were all together. I’ve had several women who were dating pilots or married to men who were in pilot school ask me in recent years what it was like to have a dad as a pilot. I told them the truth – that my dad was often gone on holidays, which can be hard, but that it taught us to be flexible and to make the day(s) that we did celebrate as special as we could. While it might seem sad to others that we didn’t always get to be with our dad on Christmas day or that we didn’t always have a celebration with family on our birthdays, we were used to it, and it really didn’t bother us. The great thing about it was that we learned early on that what matters is that we celebrate together, not the actual day itself.
My parents always made sure that whatever holiday we were celebrating was special and fun, so we barely even noticed that it wasn’t on the actual day that everyone else celebrated on. My mom would make dinners fancy and festive, and she ensured that our birthdays were exceptional even if we opened gifts on a different day. And Santa always seemed to know to come early or late to our house (depending on what my dad’s schedule was that year)! On whatever day we would actually celebrate, we would stick by our family traditions – an elaborate Thanksgiving meal; fancy hors d’oeuvres for dinner as we opened family Christmas gifts in the evening; Santa gifts, stockings, and waffles with whipped cream, fruit, and chocolate chips on whatever day we considered to be “Christmas morning”; and our favorite meal and a cake of our choice made by my sweet mom for our birthdays.
It’s easy to stress about the holidays and how to divide out time between families, and I know plenty of people who go to great lengths to celebrate with both families ON Christmas day, because they can’t imagine doing it any differently. If that works for you and your family, then more power to you! I respect that. However, given my dad’s job and the fact that my grandparents lived in two different states, we didn’t have that option growing up, and I don’t know that our holidays could have felt any more special. I have such fond memories of holidays with both sides of my family as well as our little family of four, and truth be told, I don’t remember when we celebrated. I just remember spending time together and all of the festive fun! And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Thankfully, I married into a family who feels the same – Jamie’s family actually celebrates Christmas on New Years weekend every year because that’s when they can all get together. Everyone meets at the family cabin and we celebrate Christmas and have a relaxing time. It’s wonderful.
This year, Jamie and I weren’t with any family on Christmas, which was a first. We didn’t have any vacation days because we took them all for our wedding + honeymoon, and with Christmas falling on a Tuesday this year, it was difficult to travel to another state to visit family. Luckily, we were able to celebrate Christmas with my family several weeks before and Jamie’s family the weekend before New Years. They were short and sweet little trips, but so much fun. On Christmas Eve, we had a quiet, low-key evening with just the two of us, and we exchanged gifts while sipping on champagne and eating hors d’oeuvres at the coffee table. The following morning, we opened our stockings and made waffles with whipped cream and fruit. Everything about it was festive and momentous for both of us as our first Christmas as a married couple.
It’s all about the traditions and putting a little effort in to make the holidays special, no matter when you celebrate. We can’t wait to start new traditions with our own little family and also carry on some of our own from our families growing up. What traditions do you and your family hold dear to the holidays? What things do you do to make them special, and how do you feel about celebrating holidays on a different day? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
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