With Thanksgiving just around the corner I thought it would be a great time to talk about how to make your own holiday traditions. I don't know about you but the first time that we had to spend a holiday away from family was our first year of med school. My husband and I are both from Arizona and both of our families live just a few miles apart. We spent every holiday leading up to med school bouncing all around between family member's homes and continuing traditions that we had grown up with. Then we packed up and moved to the other side of the country and for the first time ever we had to figure out how to celebrate in our own way.
Luckily for us that first big holiday (which was Thanksgiving) we were able to find some amazing friends who were in the same boat as us. We spent that first holiday trying to recreate the meals we grew up with and, as it should be, we had way too many treats to choose from because that's the best part! Every year after we celebrated with our new family and tweeked some things as the years went on. Last year was our first Thanksgiving without our med school family and it was almost as hard as that first holiday away from home.
As a family we were able to pick the traditions we grew up with that best suited our family and create some new ones as well. For Thanksgiving we do lots of baking. Lots and lots of baking! And I don't have to feel guilty about not liking green bean casserole because I can make my own type of green beans.
Luckily for us that first big holiday (which was Thanksgiving) we were able to find some amazing friends who were in the same boat as us. We spent that first holiday trying to recreate the meals we grew up with and, as it should be, we had way too many treats to choose from because that's the best part! Every year after we celebrated with our new family and tweeked some things as the years went on. Last year was our first Thanksgiving without our med school family and it was almost as hard as that first holiday away from home.
As a family we were able to pick the traditions we grew up with that best suited our family and create some new ones as well. For Thanksgiving we do lots of baking. Lots and lots of baking! And I don't have to feel guilty about not liking green bean casserole because I can make my own type of green beans.
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Once Thanksgiving is over its time to move onto Christmas. At my house that means it is time to get down to the business of gingerbread houses. It can get pretty competitive when the big kids (AKA the Doc and Me) get going. Our kids really love getting into it as well. They aren't quite as competitive yet but they can really make a masterpiece.
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Another tradition that we have is our own version of the Polar Express. Now I know that a cool train ride would be way more fun but lets face it, it doesn't quite fit into the med student/residency budget (at least not when you have 4 kids). So I print off tickets for each kid and make them a treat bag and then we load into the car. From there we drive around town looking at all of the pretty lights while we listen to Christmas music. Its great!
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Really the most important part of the holidays is getting to spend time together. We love remembering the importance of the seasons. This year we will face our first Christmas with the Doc working. We are planning to make the most of the time we have with him.
What are you doing this holiday season? What are some of your traditions? How do you celebrate when the Doctor in your life is working over the holidays?
What are you doing this holiday season? What are some of your traditions? How do you celebrate when the Doctor in your life is working over the holidays?
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