re: I’m ok with staying home on Christmas Day. Why is that bad?

My wife and I usually stay home and celebrate Christmas alone. It's the best.

No pressure, no getting dressed up. We just lounge around and cook a nice meal for the two of us.

For whatever reason, flights to Louisiana are always insanely expensive. We could literally spend the same amount of money and fly to Europe. And if you told me I had to fly to Baton Rouge or to Lisbon for the holidays, guess where I'm going?

So the cost benefit analysis of flying home makes no sense.

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Do you have kids? Kids don’t want to be in a car for 4.5 hours on Xmas when they could be at home playing with their toys.

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Kids don;t like all sorts of shite. Xmas is a time for family gatherings.

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My son was just with everyone not but a few weeks ago for Thanksgiving and by the end of the dinner honestly everyon was stressed...why are we obligated to do it again? What is awful about having a holiday where we just enjoy each other.

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Obligated to spend time with family and have a better relationship?

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Yea man!!! AMEN frick what kids want and making pleasant memories during the holidays...shove those little brats in the car and drive they arse to someone elses house where they will sit quietly while everyone else eats and gathers... That's what christmas is all about

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My kids and their cousins run all over the place and we just relax. I think you're doing it wrong, buddy.

My kids don't even know what they want for christmas, they just want to see their cousins.

Last year I caught a nasty stomach bug on Christmas Eve. Spent the whole day puking my guts out, and got so dehydrated, my wife took me to the emergency room.

We spent Christmas day at home. And even though I was the sickest I had been in years, it was the most enjoyable and peaceful Christmas I can remember.

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Trust me, your family already knows that you would rather sit around in your underwear posting on TigerDroppings rather than have real human interaction.

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Not so much actually.... I generally only post to OT when at work...when Im home with my wife and son I cherish that time and am at home with my wife and son. When we visit with family I'm all in to that as well, when I get to see my nephew I always take the lil dude fishing and forget my phone most of the time...I like quality time. During the holidays it just gets to bee too much and forced.

FWIW we will be seeing everyone on Christmas eve and christmas day is just for my family and noone else. to me this makes perfect sense, but it took a few years for my MIL to stop guilt tripping me about not seeing us for chirstmas after spending christmas eve all afternoon and evening with her. It really bugged her not being able to either have us over or invite herself over the next day because ITS CHRISTMAS...I really don't think my stance is selfish

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Again, I’m not saying my sister should come down here for XMas, but her and the kids have 2 weeks off, and her husband doesn’t work weekends. If family gatherings are as important to her as she makes them seem, I’d think she would be willing to come down here (as opposed to making mom, dad, brother, and SIL take a trip) at some point during the break.

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I get that and I'm the one that drives 3 hours every time to see the family during Christmas but I would hope that if everyone is healthy, maybe I could host one year. However, I know it's not a practical thing and it wouldn't hurt my feelings if they said no. I would have to have a special occasion planned for them to take that trip and not just a simple hosting. Something on the lines of a special christmas festival going on that everyone wanted to see.

I would 100% rather stay home all the time but I want my kids to have the same relationship I have with my cousins so I suck it up and drive. ( My situation is opposite of yours and more on your sisters situation).

It doesn't sound like OP has ever missed family Christmas before. Are people really saying he can't pick one year to do the solo thing with his wife?

This is so foreign to me. Every Christmas is different for us depending on what we want to do and work schedules, and I can't imagine someone being mad at me for it.

This was my first year to host Thanksgiving and I must have told my brother 15 times that he doesn't have to come if they were feeling something else. I host a big NYE party every year for friends and my invitation always comes with "don't feel obligated to spend your NYE here".

It's just a really odd expectation to have of someone that they must attend your event because you are hosting and invited them. Even odder when the person lives nearly as far as driving to a vacation spot. If OP never did Christmas with his family, sure. But the fist time ever in his life at what I assume to be ~30 years old? Pft.

I had a couple of friends in college at LSU who lived with their parents still (or at least lived in town and saw them often).. who were told they couldn't come on spring break because of Easter.

Easter!! Like they were 7 years old and needed to get their Easter bunny basket. Missing your college spring break the first year you're 21! Mind blowing.

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holiday guilt trippers are nothing but selfish...it isnt about memories or quality time. It's about getting bodies in the hosted event... it's about physcially possessing your time. It's twisted and we let it be passed off as ok because it's so common.

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my husband's family. The weekend before or after is not ok. They want Christmas Eve.