I am leaving early tomorrow for a trip back east. I am loading my kids and husband into a car at 4:30 am to make our flight. It is the first time we will not be home for Christmas and at this moment, as I type, I am feeling a little melancholy.

I am sad we will miss our traditional Christmas. We will miss Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dinner with our extended families; parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews. We will miss the sweet chaos of the holiday.

I will miss staying up late to do the stockings; leaving our Christmas lights on all night so Santa can find our house.

I will miss waking up Christmas morning, heading downstairs in my pajamas to put on the tree lights, and sipping my coffee while listening to the soft hum of Christmas carols before the teenagers rise.

I will miss waking said teenagers up and after wiping the sleep from their eyes, seeing in them that little twinkle of excitement as they head downstairs and gaze at the tree and stockings, knowing full well their dad and I are to blame. Being older, they know the magic of Christmas isn’t created from magic at all; but instead formed out of love.  I am thankful that although they are older, almost adults themselves, I can still find that Christmas morning sparkle in their eyes.

This past summer as I flashed forward in my head a few years, I realized my time for family trips is ticking away. My oldest will be out of college in a blink of an eye and I am feeling the pressure. Pressure to squeeze in all the family memories I can while there’s still time. Pressure to spend time with him and my daughter before they are off to lead their own lives. Almost as if I need to sear myself into their brains, so they don’t forget me when they’re gone.

Not being in our own house on Christmas morning will be a new twist. In planning this trip for my family I’m hoping not to scar my kids forever and drive them into therapy as adults. “Remember that one Christmas we woke up in a hotel room? What was mom thinking?” I trust the enchantment of New England and especially of New York City at the holidays will quickly erase that thought from their mind. But as a mom, I guess I always worry.

This will be a new and hopefully exciting way to celebrate the holiday. Traditions are important and our family is steeped in them. But for one year, we are taking a break from what is customary and creating a new memory. Hopefully one that will last a lifetime. One that my kids will look back on in years to come and say,

“Remember that Christmas we did something totally new and different?”

“Ya, me too.”

“That was awesome.”

 

Enjoy the week ahead no matter where you may be.

Salty Kisses,

Karen