Kim Swyden and Family, Henderson Hills Baptist Church
Swyden realized they had to evaluate which traditions were most important, which ones to cherish as memories and how to flexibly create new ones. “For us being at church Christmas Eve was very important and everyone respected that. With my oldest daughter’s marriage, things got a little complicated since she wanted to start her own traditions with her new family. I wasn’t going to ask her to decorate three Christmas trees, attend half a dozen dinners and drag along her baby to do it.” The Swydens knew they would have to compromise and plan ahead. “We decided to tell our loved ones that we would plan our holiday around their schedule. Our daughters love to get together on Christmas Day so we moved things around to do that and now we spend the end of the day together every year. We’ve just connected as people who can be flexible and fit in. We’re relaxed, we have an expectation of the day and though it seemed like a sacrifice at first, it’s really a happy, lovely time.” Shaw said another way to run a smooth holiday is to communicate with younger children who don’t
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