{pretty doilies from Martha}
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For the last few years, Michael and I have stayed in Dublin for Christmas. It’s not easy, and I still have a few melty moments when I really wish we’d made the trek home to Maine. But overall, it works for us logistically (Michael’s basketball season doesn’t give him too many days off at Christmas!), so I try to make it cozy.
In fact, it doesn’t take much to make Christmas cozy in Dublin. I think it’s a holiday Ireland does really well. It starts in November, and ramps up through to the big day with lots of Christmas parties, fairs and festivals. And after Christmas? It keeps going, but gets more relaxed! Not bad, huh?
The Christmas season for us in Dublin involves trying to mesh the holiday traditions from my family with those from Michael’s family, and adding our own new ones into the mix. I realized this year that both our families grew up with traditions that involved our neighbors.
In my family, a big part of Christmas Eve was baking cookies for the neighbors on our street and, if the weather was snowy enough, bringing plates of treats around China Village on a sled.
Meanwhile, in Dublin, seeing neighbors on Christmas Day was part of Michael’s family tradition. I always felt Christmas Day was a “family only” day in America. In Dublin, it doesn’t seem to be so sacred. Instead, Michael’s family traipsed across the street to their neighbors and played games and chatted all evening.
So of course, we’re doing both this year. Well, perhaps we won’t be able to bring the cookies around to our neighbors on a sled, but we’ll make sure they get treats to say happy holidays!
How do you manage mixing family traditions? Or do you bother? Are holidays family-only days or do you celebrate with neighbors too?
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