Nothing exposes the differences between you & your partner quite like Christmas. How you both were raised and the family traditions you celebrated as a child is often glaringly opposite to one another. This might be a generalization, but that’s what I discovered. Here’s just a few examples:

• KK’s family celebrate together on Christmas Eve. My family get together on Christmas Day.
• Presents with his family get opened on Christmas Eve too. We wait until the next morning when we wake up. (I’ve always asked KK when he thought Father Christmas arrived? During supper, he tells me.)
• KK’s family make a huge kickass gammon. I had never really eaten much gammon until I met them. As a child, all I remember was my granny’s beef and gravy.
• In my mom’s house on Christmas Day, there’s gammon, beef, chicken, lamb, turkey, you name it. She even tried the turduken one year but we agreed never to talk about it again.
• Growing up, we never had a Christmas tree and I never noticed it until I met KK.
• Buying Christmas presents is also very different. KK’s family buy according to gift lists and wrap presents adorned with ribbons and name tags. My family either never bought gifts, or gave one another functional presents like PJ’s or car polish. And often, these gifts were exchanged anytime during December. KK’s is horrified if gifts get opened before the 24^th.

What’s common to both families is going to church and celebrating the real reason of why Christmas matters.

Over the years, I’ve learnt that these family traditions are important. It’s not about changing one another or questioning why we do (or don’t do) the things we do, but rather recognizing how it brings families together and the wonderful memories everyone has.

One of our own traditions is putting up of the star on our decorated Christmas tree. Thanks KK!

So after reading this, is your family more like KK’s or mine. 🙂

Merry Christmas!