Tuesday OT: Home for the Holidays (and what you hate about it)

[JP4CY]

Was listening to Two Guys Named Chris, and laughing listening to Hassel talk about his dad's house. The heat being set at 60, all the curtains shut, and a bright TV.
What's your gripe about going home? Having to sleep on your old, crappy mattress? Your mom getting our your old baby book to embarrass you?

Mine is crappy toilet paper. I don't feel like I buy the nicest stuff but man alive, my parent's TP of choice feels like sandpaper.

 

[coolerifyoudid]

- It's loud. It's a constant wall of sound from morning until night. We're a soft-spoken bunch, but there are a few in my clan that have booming voices and loud laughs. To be fair, it's usually good sounds and not arguments.

- Going from a king-size Tempur-Pedic to a full-size mattress with a box spring where my feet dangle off the end is less than desirable.

- I shower at night to avoid a cold shower

- The drive from KC to NW Iowa is a boring 5 hour drive

But I have a pretty awesome family, so I'm one of the lucky ones. I'll usually be in tears laughing several times during the holidays.

 

[Gonzo]

We're pretty much past this stage, but for many years at my side of the family's Xmas it was the process of opening gifts. In all there were 18 of us, including 8 young kids. We'd start at the youngest and go, one person at a time, one present at a time, with plenty of time for "ooohs" and "aaaahs" after the opening of EACH gift. It would literally take no less than 4-5 hours to get through it. Excruciating. Painful. And it sucked.

 

[BCClone]

Guess home for the holidays now means my house since my parents are gone and it’s just me and one of my sisters. Wife wants Christmas of yesteryear to occur so it basically sucks around the house for Christmas time since times change.

 

[NWICY]

We're pretty much past this stage, but for many years at my side of the family's Xmas it was the process of opening gifts. In all there were 18 of us, including 8 young kids. We'd start at the youngest and go, one person at a time, one present at a time, with plenty of time for "ooohs" and "aaaahs" after the opening of EACH gift. It would literally take no less than 4-5 hours to get through it. Excruciating. Painful. And it sucked.

LOL I'm with you on that that's the way my mom wants it done. I'm grateful that they are still around to share the holidays with so I'm not complaining. The older my parents get the more grateful I am they are still around and I can put up with differences to have time with them.

 

[wxman1]

Overall I don't have any that are all that annoying and we all live around CR so there isn't a need to stay anywhere like when we lived in Wichita. So far this years frustrating part has been two people out of twenty some insisting that Christmas has to be at Grandma and Grandpa's which doesn't have a good space for all of us.

 

[ruxCYtable]

Except for the travel itself, I generally enjoy being in Iowa for the Christmas. Accommodations and food are good but my MIL treats my FIL like absolute garbage and he won't stand up for himself. Takes everything I have to keep my mouth shut. Also she thinks alcohol is the root of all evil so it's a completely dry house. I usually sneak out for dinner and drinks with a couple friends while I'm there so I'll survive, if the weather allows us to make the trip at all.

 

[JM4CY]

Who doesn't love being analyzed under a microscope by people you don't like on the most magical night of the year?

 

[CyCrazy]

The only thing I hate is the drive from Ames to Boji. We are a small family so only 6 of us with my parents.

 

[bozclone]

My 87 year old dad has terminal cancer. Thankful we get the opportunity to spend Christmas with him and he is well enough to enjoy it. Not looking forward to dinner at my sister's though. She is not the cook my wife is and she has too many animals.

 

[cowgirl836]

Different set of gripes now that I'm older. Mostly reminders of the very important adult **** not being taken care of or thought about as parents age.
Comments or looks about parenting things, which aren't too often now. And for one side......absolute insanity in number of gifts. Overwhelming. First world, I know. IDK if it's a Boomer thing or what that the love language is a large quantity of plastic toys.
We've gotten away from this now but there was also an insistence on having all adult children sleep in same house. Ok, that's 3 bedrooms for six adults and 5 kids, including a baby. Did that for one night before I said never again.

 

[madguy30]

Love that I still have my childhood home to visit and am forever grateful that I love visiting.

But if I don't get some time out of it during my visits I start to unravel a bit.

The three day rule is real.

 

[BCClone]

Who doesn't love being analyzed under a microscope by people you don't like on the most magical night of the year?

Tell your wife to leave the microscope home so they don’t look at your manhood anymore

 

[Candide]

Different set of gripes now that I'm older. Mostly reminders of the very important adult **** not being taken care of or thought about as parents age.
Comments or looks about parenting things, which aren't too often now. And for one side......absolute insanity in number of gifts. Overwhelming. First world, I know. IDK if it's a Boomer thing or what that the love language is a large quantity of plastic toys.
We've gotten away from this now but there was also an insistence on having all adult children sleep in same house. Ok, that's 3 bedrooms for six adults and 5 kids, including a baby. Did that for one night before I said never again.

My wife and I started getting a hotel room years ago and it was a game changer.

 

[MJ29]

This is more about the holidays in general than just going home, but here it goes.

The guilt. My husband and I alternate holidays with family (Thanksgiving Day with my family and Christmas Day with his family and then flip it the next year), and even with this in place, I always feel like we're disappointing someone.

Also, the pressure to make things perfect/live up to what I see from my friends online. We don't have a tree up because we don't have room for one. I will never do the Elf on the Shelf thing. Matching pajamas might happen if I have the energy and plan ahead in time. We have not yet taken our child to see Santa because last winter and the current one are horrible for sickness and we don't need any additional exposures. But then I see all these things on my social media feeds and I wonder if I'm failing as a mom.

 

[Cyfan2901]

My bedroom is still the exact same as I left it when I went to college 7 years ago. Weird seeing my varsity letter and trophies from youth sports.

 

[MeanDean]

This is more about the holidays in general than just going home, but here it goes.

The guilt. My husband and I alternate holidays with family (Thanksgiving Day with my family and Christmas Day with his family and then flip it the next year), and even with this in place, I always feel like we're disappointing someone.

Also, the pressure to make things perfect/live up to what I see from my friends online. We don't have a tree up because we don't have room for one. I will never do the Elf on the Shelf thing. Matching pajamas might happen if I have the energy and plan ahead in time. We have not yet taken our child to see Santa because last winter and the current one are horrible for sickness and we don't need any additional exposures. But then I see all these things on my social media feeds and I wonder if I'm failing as a mom.

No, you're totally normal.

Stop thinking your life should be a Hallmark movie and stop worrying what attention whores post about their "perfect" lives on social media.

Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.

Simple is better.

 

[NoCreativity]

all the curtains shut,

This is one of my pet peeves. That along with people who keep the air conditioner and furnace running all the time and won't even open up their windows when it's 75 out.

 

[CapnCy]

1. This ages me a bit, but when i was in college/right after, when i went home i would have to drive about a mile out of town to make a phone call with my cell phone (this was before texting)....i'd get a voicemail now and then at the parents, but essentially if I wanted to call i'd go park on a gravel road (and of course get eye balled by the local farmers driving by)

2. Overall for me now...not having control of the ability to make coffee. I need coffee and that variable (how i like it, etc) can cause stress (and headaches). Thankfully Casey's coffee is pretty good and can be found everywhere in a pinch!

 

[RLD4ISU]

Nothing that isn't impossible to occasionally do. My Mom has dementia and, along with deteriorating mentally, she's physically going downhill. My parents love Christmas and insist on having it at their home. It's not the most comfortable there, but it's easier for everyone else to come there. Plus they're flexible for when we have it. My husband's side, though, has a set date every year and no flexibility. Then everyone shows up, eats and immediately leaves. (We quit giving gifts years ago).