Holidays when on vacation- sorry to bring up holidays

[waverly]

Sorry I plan too far in advance.  We decided on the Hawaii trip, and it is over Christmas.  I have companion pass which ends Dec 31, so I can't travel past then.  And typically no camps are open that week anyway, so it is a good week to go even though it is over Christmas.

I would like to celebrate before we leave, so the kids are happy and not sad like in Home Alone lol.  But since we are leaving the first day of break, I can't figure out when.  The previous weekend seems so early Dec 14.  They have a half day Fri Dec 20.  We could do it then, but they couldn't open presents in the morning. I could keep them home, but then DH might be working.

I figured to get around the Santa issue, I would tell them that I texted him to bring the presents early, but don't tell their friends.  I have a known texting relationship with all mythical creatures (Santa, Easter Bunny, and Tooth Fairy). 

I could bring a couple of small presents to open on the trip, but hell no to bringing all of Christmas to Hawaii.  Typically when we went away as a kid we would leave Dec 26, and I think that is sometimes the norm, but that doesn't work for the companion pass ending.  Plus I re-arranged the work schedule for that week.  I have 2 people off that week, and 2 people off the following week now.  And it doesn't make sense to change it to Thanksgiving week because DH wants to see Pearl Harbor and part of it is closed for construction until Dec 7.

They won't get a ton or presents because the trip could be their present.  They are just still at that age where they don't 100% grasp experiences as presents and they still believe in Santa. 

Time wise, maybe it makes more sense to celebrate after we get home like on that following Sunday, but I work, so then that pushes us to Dec 31 to celebrate.

Maybe parent presents on Dec 20, and Santa presents (morning openings) on Dec 31? I've overthinking it.

[twinmomma]

What if you do Santa presents on December 31st and he somehow sneaks one gift or something to Hawaii with a note like "Left the rest at home, enjoy your vacation!" My kids would eat that up.

[mae0111]

Jul 23, 2019 11:42:57 GMT -5 twinmomma said:

What if you do Santa presents on December 31st and he somehow sneaks one gift or something to Hawaii with a note like "Left the rest at home, enjoy your vacation!" My kids would eat that up.

Exactly what I was thinking!

[k3am]

We have traveled for Christmas every year.. granted it's not to Hawaii!

We bring one small gift for each kid to open on Christmas Day. Since you're in Hawaii, I'd probably pick something that they'd use while you're there. He brings everything else to our house while we're gone (aka, one of us "forgets something inside" after everyone's been loaded into the car and quickly unloads presents) and we open them when we get home.

[186momx]

We are looking at going to Hawaii for Christmas in 2020. My plan if DD is still really is into Santa is to have her Santa gift which is always something she wants but it tends to be small come to Hawaii and everything else will be at home when we get back.

[sdlaura]

We'll be visiting family on the East coast this year for Christmas. Last time we did that (3 years ago) I just brought all the gifts/had them shipped to Maryland, and then we brought them back with us. But there were only two kids then, and they were smaller, so the gifts were smaller.

I haven't quite decided what we'll do this year. I think we'll open most gifts in Maryland and just bring them back, but if there's anything large maybe I'll take a picture of it in front of our tree, and they can open the picture on Christmas, and then see the actual gift when we get back home (on January 1st).

We fly Southwest and could theoretically check 10 bags for free if we wanted to.

[ilovelucyvv]

For Christmas we open gifts early and then leave them all at home except one or two items the kids insist to bring with them. In your case they will be so distracted with Hawaii I think I would delay opening most gifts until after you return. Its awkward this year with Christmas being a Wednesday.

[erinshelley21]

I would do the parent presents before you leave and leave Santa presents for when you return. Can you arrange for someone to set them up for you while you are gone?

2 christmases ago DH worked Christmas day and it was the first year DS totally got Santa. I had DH take the kids to our Christmas Eve thing and I stayed behind for like 20 minutes to set up. Santa typed a letter explaining that he knew DH worked (because Santa knows all) and wanted to make sure we could celebrate together. You could send the kids to school on that half day and be Santa while they are gone.

Christmas can be whenever you need/want it to be.

[vasc]

We were OOT this past Christmas and spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at Disneyland Paris. “Santa Mickey” brought each kid (1 and 5) a Disney-themed stocking with Mickey and Minnie plush, jammies, and candy on Christmas morning. Real Santa gifts were laid out under our tree at home and we opened them when we got back.