Should we spend Christmas with in-laws or keep our own tradition?

[Afternoonteaforme1]

Hi all,
I know it’s still very early in the year but my in laws who live 3 hours away are talking about me and my husband and our 2 small children going to theirs for Xmas and spending it with them and our brother and sister in laws. My husband said he could take it or leave it and he prefers to stay at home as it’s our tradition and we don’t want to have to drive up and would have no room for our children’s presents. He told his family that and his parents and brothers are pressuring him and now he’s thinking that he should as he’s never seen them on Xmas day before since having children and feels like a bad son. What are your thoughts? I’m trying to support him but it’s so hard seeing him feeling like he can’t win as he says!

@Afternoonteaforme1 , I have two sons with wives and families. I am extremely lucky because both of my daughter in laws are decent, lovely girls who understand that their husbands want to spend special occasions with their family.
I love my daughter in laws, they are to me the daughters I didn’t ever have. We have lots of fun together as a family. I am blessed.
It’s your tradition to spend your Christmas’s alone you say. I wonder if your family are included?
My sons benefited enormously from the interaction they had with their grandparents. They are adults with families of their own now but that relationship is still so important to them even though their grandparents are no longer with us.
I guess you could look at this situation entirely selfishly as what suits you and your husband or you could be the sort of parents who put their children first and understand that your children’s relationship with their grandparents is really important. It doesn’t sound like your in laws have done anything that would preclude them from being a positive influence to your children so I’d say it was pretty selfish to deny your children the time with their grandparents.
Everso sorry, I do understand that’s not the answer you were looking for but there are so many mummies here that hate the in laws I thought I’d try and offer some balance.

I think there’s a much bigger picture though and not everyone’s circumstances are the same, as a child I loved staying at home with my parents on Christmas Day, it was of course often cold so I would have new PJs and my dressing gown on all day and had access to all my toys to play with. I always found going to my grandparents’ house on a Sunday so boring! I would’ve absolutely hated being there on Christmas Day and have such lovely memories of just being with my family and sitting on the sofa together in the evenings watching Christmas films. This obviously wasn’t yours or your children’s experience and that’s great, but unless you know the whole family dynamics it’s impossible to know whether or not that is best for the children