Ho Ho Ho

My roommates both went home for the holiday, one is 22 and one is 32. It got me thinking about what age you start making your own Holiday traditions and stop going home for your parents'. I get that family is a large part of the holidays, and spending Christmas with the family is pretty standard. But at what point do you stop taking days off to travel to see them and instead start doing your own thing for the holidays?

I stopped going home for the holidays last year. I skype with my family on Christmas morning, but that is all. I don't like returning to the small town I grew up in, and we don't really have any traditions, other than the food that is made on Christmas Eve.

Christmas, to me, is almost as much of a Hallmark Holiday as as Valentine's Day. I have no connection to the religious aspect of it, and it all seems to be centered on gifts and food, cheesy music and too many decorations. Don't get me wrong, I love gifts and food, but it's not a reason to travel home for. Especially not when I have friends in town to spend it with.

All Christmas means to me this year is a three day weekend to relax. I have been so stressed lately it is insane. I was so stressed yesterday that a muscle in my toes spasmed. It was a strange sensation I hadn't had before. It threw off my balance because the toe wouldn't stay where I needed it. It's like my body was telling me I had to stay put.

So I plan on cooking, relaxing with friends and watching Dexter this weekend. The holiday will be in the background making the frosting on my cake green and the wine mulled, but it will be just like any other weekend.

Does that make me a Scrooge?

3 comments:

  1. No, i think we are at an interesting turning point in our lives where Holidays just aren't the same. Christmas no longer feels like Christmas anymore. It's pretty much a kids holiday and now that we are no longer kids....well...what are we suppose to do?

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  2. Thanks Kristine! Hope you have a great holiday!

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  3. This year I kind of wanted to lay low for the holiday and have some time to myself, but since I get a month off from school and they kick us out of the dorms, I had to come home. I imagine it will be weird the first year I don't go home for the holidays, but I'm also looking forward to having enough independence to be able to do so if I wish. I hope you enjoy your time off!

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