Chrissie85

Hey all...

Been a while since I have posted...

I love Christmas...always have and even more so this year, because my almost 4 year old is so into it all.

However, I still find myself when it all goes still...missing home greatly. We facetime family every day, more so my daughter does, to talk to her Nana and Aunt. That however, I am finding could be a part of the problem.
Listening to what they are all doing and how upset they are that we can't be there with them etc....all triggers for the blues.

Don't help that my hubby is working all over Christmas....he is a LEO.

How do you deal with Christmas homesickness?
Also particularly interested to hear from those who have moved over and now have children involved?

Thanks

moneypenny20

In all honesty I couldn't facetime/etc my UK people every day, I'd be a basket case. If I lived there I wouldn't see/speak to them every day so I'm not going to do it when I live away. It works for me and I just save up things to say and ask. I'm not a fan of christmas any more, hate the christmas blues but I think it's as much that my kids and nephew and nieces are all grown it wouldn't be the same if we were there, as it is not being there with them if that makes sense.

Chrissie85

Yeah it makes sense. To be honest I just chime in once in a while. My daughter chats with my mum in particular daily because she is retired and home alone.

Not sure how to even approach the 'daily breakup' haha

scrubbedexpat091

Christmas has never been the same, we don't have kids so it's just wife and I, and well nothing I can do in Canada to make it better when all my family is in California, so I try and just pretend it's just any other day, which isn't easy to do since nearly everything is closed, but I try.

Chrissie85

Sorry

dc koop

We always have a big family get together on Christmas Eve and then spend Christmas day with my daughter and the grand kids but still I'd sure like to be able to spend Christmas in England now and then having a few pints of Whitbread with my nephews in a cozy pub and hearing English voices around me.

Giantaxe

Christmas Day used to be the one day of year I felt homesick for England. I don't think that feeling went away until after my mother passed away, which was 17 years after I moved to the US. I've never been back to England for Christmas, and I doubt I will until I'm retired.

robin1234

I don't think Whitbreads are engaged in brewing beer any more - are they?

Giantaxe

Whitbread weren't engaged in brewing beer even when they were

scrubbedexpat027

You should try it with no husband, kids or close friends! I always spend Christmas Day alone but have got quite used to it now. I Skype my brother's kids Christmas Eve, then just treat the holiday as nice time off work.

WEBlue

Half of our family is in southern England, half is scattered here in the northeast USA. We do Skype, but no more than about once a month & some various special occasions. Missing the British contingent gets intense from time to time, though...I do feel waay too far away from my only young grandchild.

And I do think the Holiday Blues come with the multi-country life. When my kids were little, the Husband & I upped sticks and had a long sojourn in Japan for his job. Talk about strange Christmases! Back in the late 90s, Japan did not do in any way a traditional "Christmas" as we in the west understand it. (They have shifted over closer now, even though they are not a Christian nation, just because the Japanese are attracted to some of the 'fun' Christmas trappings--like Christmas trees & Santa Claus.) Plus, my hubby--like yours--had to work straight through the holiday, which was not recognised in Japan, and take a few days off at New Year's, which IS a big holiday there.

I had to invent our own kind of Christmas back then. It worked OK because the children were little enough, & we had no Skype to remind them what they were missing. I really feel for you, facing that Skype/FaceTime kind of difficulty.... Hugs, Chrissie. You and your 4 year old will survive, & the hols will end...and perhaps you both can (hopefully) find things/activities to enjoy in this country that your relatives back in the UK will envy....

retzie

+1

I wouldn't say I get homesick, but it is a fairly crap day. On my own, everything closed, everybody busy - it's a great reminder that you're all alone in a foreign land

Rete

Why not spend the day volunteering in an organization that could use an extra pair of hands making the holiday a special day for someone less fortunate. We all know about soup kitchens but what about children stuck in the hospital on Christmas. Lend a voice to the carols and bring a basket of candy canes and a smile. Go to the animal shelter. Take a dog for a walk or let a kitten curl up on your lap.

I know of so many single lonely women and men who didn't have family to go to for the holiday. I invited neighbors who I only knew in passing to join me at my table for dinner on Thanksgiving or Christmas. Some said no, thanks, but some did say yes. We eat and drank and got to know one another and the day passed quickly and with some smiles and laughter. If you don't want to do dinner make it a simply affair of an one hour open house. Make a few tidbits for munchies, open a bottle of wine, a quart of eggnog, a bottle of beer, a pot of coffee and tea. Everyone is alone until someone puts out a hand in friendship.

tonrob

While we enjoy Christmas in its own right, I'm increasingly finding that I derive most pleasure by trying to live it through the eyes of the sproutlet (now 5).

Mrs tonrob's German, so we very much try to follow all the German and British traditions, meaning Niklaus on the 6th and then doing "2 Christmases" on the 24th and the 25th. We get so wrapped up in the "3 of us" that I'm no longer homesick at Christmas, as home is exactly where we are right now, all together.

However I'm, sure it's more difficult if one of us had to work, so heart goes out to you on that one.

tom169

This will be my first Christmas away from England and the Mrs is working Christmas day, so will likely give the folk back in England a facetime for 30 mins and then stick my feet up. We're doing Christmas day dinner on the 24th because of this.