A New Holiday Tradition

As many of you know, earlier this year I got married. When I got married, I had never met my husband's family and I had never really considered the implications that this union would have on the holiday season. Anyone who knows me knows that no holiday is ever simple. This is probably true for most people, but I have a blended family and that means that I have to work together with all the many members of our different family groups to try and make sure everyone feels that they had the best holiday possible. Getting married added a whole lot more family.

One of the things that has made the holidays doable for me has been the fact that the vast majority of my family lives in Central Florida like me. I can reach the majority of my family in any number of directions in about an hour. My husband is the only member of his family who lives here and that has changed things up a bit. This year, for the first Christmas ever, I'll be away for Christmas. Can we say road trip?

I'm nervous for a number of reasons including and not limited to:

• New people that I have to like. When I was married before my husband had a grand total of ONE family member. This is a lot of pressure.
• Traveling with a baby who is just over two months old. I'm not sure how to make this work without ruining his sleep schedule.
• Introducing my husband to my father. My dad and my grandparents live in North Florida so we get to visit them too, but my father has never met anyone that I dated.
• Integrating into the previously mentioned new family. My husband apparently told his family I would help with the cooking. In my family, despite the fact that I am thirty years old, I'm kind of a junior member. By the time I arrive everything is finished and if I do bring anything it's either dessert or drinks. They have the whole routine down and they've been doing it since I was a baby, if not before then.

I'm sure we will figure it all out, but right now it's kind of in the planning stages.