Do you ever go to mass family gatherings?

[MeerkatsUnite]

I'm talking of Christmas in particular but it can relate to any occasion really where you all meet.

If so, do you all sit there telling amusing anecdotes or sit there with one eye on the door and the other on the clock?.

Having spent the last two Christmases without the dreaded rellies I can recommend this course of action (still can see MIL coming up to me in the kitchen with kids lunchboxed sized bottle of Evian water saying ,"this is for BIL". I ended up giving him tap water). That particular action along with a few others that day were the catalyst to not spending Christmas with them for the next two years but being abroad for the whole shooting match instead.

Yes, Christmas time, occasionally when my grandparents visit (they live miles and miles away in Aberdeen), my other nana's birthday, and the odd other special occasion. They do tend to be either at someone's house or for a meal out. As we only do it occasionally it's fine, and luckily we do get on with pretty much most of our families. I have a pretty big family, so some of the family gatherings can be huge!

At Christmas we always insist (and no one has complained) that Christmas Day is ours alone - just the 3 of us. We then tend to have my parents, DH's parents, brothers/sisters & partners round on Boxing Day.

If we are talking my close family then its any time I go home. We stay at my mums and everyone pops over and its great. On dps side everyone tends to pop round to his sisters and its generally a mad house with kids running round everywhere.

Mass gathering of extended family with Aunts and cousins etc tend to be jsut that as they revolve round Mass (weddings and funerals)andthe odd occasional party but I ahve 60 odd first cousins so not a small family really.

Love going to visit my one grannie who is alive. She is great and visits all her kids round the country in turn.

It's like this:

my family
his family