When you get married, move out on your own, or have your own children, the hardest part of starting your own life is not living on your own, it is learning to balance your life with your family traditions. You have probably always done the same thing for Christmas every year because it was your mother’s home and you never thought anything of it. However, if you are a parent now you might want to do things a little differently. To make sure that you do not hurt anyone’s feeling or cause arguments right around the holidays, you need to find a balance between traditions and a new way of doing things.
If you want to break with tradition you need to be careful in what you change. If your family has been doing things for so long because they are extremely religious and to change things would be go against the church, you should probably leave the tradition alone. Whether you are religious or not, you need to respect others who are and honor what they believe. You might not like the tradition or chose to believe it, but others do.
If you want to break a tradition that is not grounded in religion you will have more luck succeeding without sounding rude. If your family always opened Christmas gifts on Christmas day and you want your kids to open them on Christmas Eve, you just have to talk with your family. Bring up the conversation a few months before the holidays. Holidays are stressful enough without having this conversation over the holiday dinner. Ask politely if the tradition could be changed. Chances are you will not meet with a lot of resistance, but if you do, try to find where the resistance is coming from. If it an unwillingness to change or are they mad that you would suggest the change?
