Christmas Hits Different
Dec 22, 2025
My memories of childhood Christmas are a little vague.
Probably because when I was eight, my parents divorced.
From that point on, Christmas became complicated.
Pulled in a million different directions
my dad’s side, my mom’s side, and not long after, my dad’s girlfriend’s family too.
The part I remember most clearly?
Christmas morning at home back when my parents were still together.
After opening gifts, we’d pack up and take the short drive across the field to my grandparents’ house.
Grandma in the kitchen, cooking all the family recipes.
Aunts running around, trying to help or trying to figure out how Grandma made the turkey so moist, the apple pie crust so perfect, or what she put in those incredible butter tarts.
I get emotional thinking about it now.
Because back then, my grandparents were the core of everything Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas.
And when you lose that core
Probably because when I was eight, my parents divorced.
From that point on, Christmas became complicated.
Pulled in a million different directions
my dad’s side, my mom’s side, and not long after, my dad’s girlfriend’s family too.
The part I remember most clearly?
Christmas morning at home back when my parents were still together.
After opening gifts, we’d pack up and take the short drive across the field to my grandparents’ house.
Grandma in the kitchen, cooking all the family recipes.
Aunts running around, trying to help or trying to figure out how Grandma made the turkey so moist, the apple pie crust so perfect, or what she put in those incredible butter tarts.
I get emotional thinking about it now.
Because back then, my grandparents were the core of everything Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas.
And when you lose that core
things change.
We still get together now. Both sides of the family.
But it’s different.
Mostly at Christmas. Rarely Easter or Thanksgiving.
For a long time, I struggled with Christmas.
It took years and a lot of help from my wife and my girls to truly love it again.
There’s still a lot of back-and-forth.
But that’s the part I’ve learned to appreciate.
My wife loves Christmas.
Every room in our house is decorated beautifully.
The tree is always perfect.
When the girls were younger, it was chaos wrapping gifts, assembling toys at midnight, managing the “some assembly required” disasters under the tree.
We always tried to give them meaningful gifts fewer presents, but ones that mattered.
Toys turned into iPods.
iPods turned into computers.
Computers turned into clothes… and eventually money.
But the traditions stayed.
A family photo on the couch in front of the tree.
Handmade cards that still make me cry.
Moments I’ll carry forever.
Traditions are built on family.
And I know how lucky I am.
Christmas for me now is filled with love, gratitude, and perspective.
Because time doesn’t slow down.
You can’t stop it.
All you can do is show up, be present, and cherish every single moment with the people you love.
We still get together now. Both sides of the family.
But it’s different.
Mostly at Christmas. Rarely Easter or Thanksgiving.
For a long time, I struggled with Christmas.
It took years and a lot of help from my wife and my girls to truly love it again.
There’s still a lot of back-and-forth.
But that’s the part I’ve learned to appreciate.
My wife loves Christmas.
Every room in our house is decorated beautifully.
The tree is always perfect.
When the girls were younger, it was chaos wrapping gifts, assembling toys at midnight, managing the “some assembly required” disasters under the tree.
We always tried to give them meaningful gifts fewer presents, but ones that mattered.
Toys turned into iPods.
iPods turned into computers.
Computers turned into clothes… and eventually money.
But the traditions stayed.
A family photo on the couch in front of the tree.
Handmade cards that still make me cry.
Moments I’ll carry forever.
Traditions are built on family.
And I know how lucky I am.
Christmas for me now is filled with love, gratitude, and perspective.
Because time doesn’t slow down.
You can’t stop it.
All you can do is show up, be present, and cherish every single moment with the people you love.
