SURPRISE…. this is NOT a post about essential oils, but about how our family does Christmas as a blended family.  When it comes to blended families, even the simplest things aren’t simple! The holidays are no exception!  I mean have you seen 4 Christmases…Sharing our Christmas blend.

With flexibility, a positive attitude and A LOT of  preparation this is how we mitigate the extra stressors that come with co-parenting  at this time of year……and when all else fails, wine does the trick!

OUR Blended family CHRISTMAS 

For Simplicity if reading I will refer to my Step-kids as “The kids”   our son together is known as “Sweets”  on the blog-sphere.

The Kids are with us every Christmas Eve and we celebrate a traditional Swiss/German Christmas at Adrian’s parent, with Candles on the tree ????, the Christmas story, and fondue.  After which we head home and go to sleep in anticipation of Santa arrival.

Christmas morning  is gifts and breakfast .  The kids  head over to their Moms for Christmas  whenever they are all ready, and enjoy another round of presents and a traditional Christmas dinner.

Our Christmas dinner is a much quieter celebration with both of our parents, Sweets and typically a dinner that includes  something barbecued, even if its turkey. ????

CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS WITH OUR “Sweets”

After having Sweets, Adrian and I spent A LOT of time talking about how we will do Christmas …and other family activities.     Especially since there are such large age gaps between the kids (they are 5.5, 14, and 21.  The big decision was how to navigate all the traditions that the kids have outgrown, while maintaining a unified family, and allowing Sweets to experience all the activities for himself.  We are talking all the things; Pumpkin patches, Santa clause, Easter bunny…. you get the idea.

Ultimately, we decided to go on as usual. It’s important for us to continue annual traditions with him just as we did the older kids. Some years we will fulfill these traditions as a family of 5, and other years it will be just the three of us. Now that our oldest is a young adult she has her own life and can’t make it to everything, but she makes a point of being at the important things and we appreciate that.

WILL Sweets END UP WITH MORE PRESENTS THAN THE OTHER TWO?

Yep!  {Insert “GASP” here!}
Now before everyone gets their panties in a bunch over this, let me explain. His brothers and sister are essentially getting not 1, but TWO  Christmases, and they have 5 sets of Grandparents.

That said,  they have no shortage of gifts, plus being so much older their gifts are often more expensive. There may be more gifts for him under our tree, but when you look at the big picture, it all evens out.

Final word

 Obviously, every family has their own traditions and does what works for them… but that’s the rationale behind our  Christmas blend.

If you’re struggling about your own Christmas traditions, here’s my advice.

• Don’t over think it
• Be flexible
• Don’t sweat the small stuff
• Do what feels right for you and your people!

At the end of the day, it’s all about making memories and spending time with the people you love!