Anyone else want to discuss families and holiday plans

(Yes, I know I'm extremely lucky to have a family that I talk to, argue with, and get very angry with. I mean that. I do know I'm a very fortunate person.)

When you are married, or have a combined family, how do you decide who to include for family celebrations? My basic premise has been that if it's at our house, then everyone is invited. I can push the invitations to close family members left alone to whoever we end up at. We always get confused when various family members change our rules (which they don't know.) The latest is Thanksgiving and where we'll be.

Our implied rule is that we are with my family for Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. My husband's family has Christmas Day and we have Christmas morning. I just wish there was some standard etiquette rules to who you go to for family celebrations.

so far away, we usually let my wifes parents come over, and her aunts, and their kids....anything more than that, is a no no...my wifes extended family on the Oklahoma side are rather...non-festive.

But most of the time, its just my mother/father in law, and my brother in law and his wife...as for other festive parties, I hardly ever go to any of them...unless its my mother/father in laws bday's/anni's, which we have at our house anyways...I really don't get along to well with my wife's extended family...we get along, but anything more than half an hour/hour is really pushing it....

We would trade off, head to one family for Thanksgiving and the other for Christmas, and switch it the following year. More or less. :shrug:

Thanksgiving is at my Grandmother's house on Thanksgiving day (Lunch time), hubby's family usually meets the weekend following Thanskgiving. Sometimes they meet before. I think the talk is to meet for dinner this year on Thansgiving day.

We spend Christmas Eve day with my immediate family (parents & siblings), Christams Eve night with hubby's family, and Christmas Day with my extended family @ my Grandmother's house.

The big thing is to play Christmas BINGO at g-ma's house. Last count my extended family numbered around 40, with BINGO we all get gifts w/out having to buy something for everyone. Once everyone has a gift, we play Dirty Santa. That's when it really gets fun. :evilgrin:

but when our first child was born we announced to both families that we were not traveling between them any more because it was time for us to begin our own family traditions. They were welcome to join us of course, but from now on, we stay home. Both side were incredibly PISSED, but they got over it, and we usually have a full house for the holidays. It means that I have to do a lot of cooking and a lot of cleaning, but the tradeoff is that I don't have to drive myself crazy running from place to place and my kids get to enjoy their own home on the holidays instead of always being a "guest" somewhere.

We rotate who we spend holidays with. Thanksgiving, we usually stay home. Sometimes we invite my brother-in-law over. Last year, we had my sister, brother-in-law, their kids and grandkids. The total was 12 plus my husband and me.

For the past two years, we spend Christmas eve with my sister and her family. Before that, we'd spend Christmas eve with my sister and brother-in-law. We'll probably go back to that. Sometimes, we'd have Christmas dinner at home. Sometimes, we'd have dinner at my sister's place.

For Easter, we'd either have dinner at my sister's or at home. The Saturday before Easter, we'd sometimes go to my sister's home. She has an egg hunt for the grandkids and their friends. For Halloween, she's having the kids over so they can carve their own pumpkins. Hopefully, the weather will be nice enough so the kids and pumpkins are outside.