Remember the idea behind "suspended coffee"? But what about suspended holidays?
Beyond how insular (I think that's the correct term) how family can be during the holidays, there's also how flexible we end up being when it comes to when we actually celebrate things. Being together is always more important than the date itself, so we've been known to adjust to everyone's availability.
I recognize that I play a role in all this given I was the first to leave home (albeit under less than ideal circumstances). My sister eventually moved to Singapore so then we became multi-location family who likes to celebrate special occasions together. It just makes it harder to get everyone together.
When you factor in travel time, more expensive air fare during the holidays and all that good stuff, you end up needing to be flexible with how you celebrate.
It also helps that we've always been rather atypical when it comes to Christmas celebrations. I can't remember when I learned what Noche Buena was supposed to be like since we used to have Christmas dinner at the usual time then make sure all the kids were in bed before midnight because Santa Claus was coming. We were never really big on Misa de Gallo, so yeah we're a little weird that way. We never planned to wear one color and even family Christmas photos have never been a regular thing I guess all that has contributed to our holiday flexibility.
So this year, I've still had work this week, then a lot of chores related to getting the house ready as our main activities. We're in the middle of playing more May Island with the family tonight but the exchanging of gifts will happen only when my sister and her family get here. We're bound to share some hearty meals together, but I dunno if I'd consider them adjusted Noche Buena replacements or something.
At the end of the day, we're going to celebrate Christmas together and I know we're going to have a lot of fun when that happens.
Just not tonight. Or tomorrow. Or the day after.
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