Since moving into my RV, holidays have become an adjustment. Christmas dinner was always at my house. As a family we would go out and cut a tree and decorate it together. The kids would come Christmas day, and I would delight in the smiles as they opened their gifts, and we would all sit down to a wonderful meal. No doing any of that in the van! Oh, we still get a tree, but only one. My oldest is the only one with room for one. Lol! Katelyn has a small apartment, but I am sure when her fiance moves here, it will move up to two. And me, well, there is definitely no room for a live tree. Celebrating Christmas while living an RV Lifestyle can be a challenge but there is also a lot of merry that goes along with it.
Gift Giving and Storing with my RV Lifestyle
Getting gifts for me is the fun of it all. Things that will give them delight, smiles, and a few laughs. Sometimes I try, and it all goes all wrong. Lol! Like the time I got my grandkids’ Minions one Christmas. They were these cute little dolls that when you pressed their tummies, they laughed. I thought they would love them, and oh, they did! Then my daughter leaned over and asked me why I got her children Happy Pills for Christmas. Happy Pills??? Hahahaha! What?? They are minions. She laughed and laughed and said “nope Mom, they are happy pills.” Ohhh nooo!! They still have them, I think. Gifts to me are something from the heart. I hate shopping but if I am looking for just the right gifts then shop I do!
It is also all about the surprise! I would put them in a closet, in the basement, out in my custom van. Anywhere they could not find them. So hiding gifts in a van is a little difficult. I had to make a rule that no children could be in the van after December 1st. Moving the gifts for weeks from the bed to the front and back again is exhausting, to say the least. Stepping over, around bags and stuff drives me crazy. I get annoyed when anything, even my shoes are in my little hallway, so bags of gifts almost sends me around the bend. The big gifts, like the time I got two of my grandsons a yard of chocolate, have to be stored at friends houses. Where do I put 2 yards of chocolate?? I always have to remember that when my RV moves so does everything inside it. No flying toys in the van. LOL
What About the Big Gifts?
One year, I decided to get a chimera for my friends for Christmas for their new Gazebo. Since I moved into my RV, Christmas Eve is spent with my friend Diane wrapping gifts, drinking eggnog, watching Christmas movies, and laughing. It’s a wonderful evening spent with a beautiful friend. Since the Chimera was for them, I would have to sneak it into the gazebo after they went to bed. My idea of how big and heavy these things are was greatly underrated. The guy from the store helped me put it into the van. Tipping this way and that way and finally getting it into the van was one thing. I had help to get it in. I would have to get it out of the van by myself. It fit on the jump seat fine but it was too round for the seat-belt to fit. I had to put it on the floor in the hallway. Lifting it out of there would be a back breaking maneuver. The things you do for the people you love.
I waited until Christmas Eve to go to the pottery store and stepped over it, more like climbed over it and around it for the rest of the evening while making sure Mark or Diane did not open the door. There was no hiding it. Getting it out was hilarious! I so hoped they did not hear me laughing as I struggled to get it out the side door. The surprise was so worth it!!
Everything is figureoutable!
Christmas day is spent with my kids. I watch the smiles as they opened their gifts, and enjoy a beautiful meal my daughter cooks. I am usually in charge of buns and dessert. A long way from cooking all day. Both my kids are good cooks, probably because I wasn’t. Well, I can cook, I just do not like to. It is always a beautiful day even if I am so blessed to have such a beautiful family!
Boxing day is spent with my friends Kim and Tom. They have been my friends for over 30 years. I am so delighted that I can spend the day with them. This year will be my first winter in the south or west. I am not sure, but I know I will be warm. Stay tuned for some warm Chipmunk Adventures in the new year.
Driving off while getting prepared for Christmas is a definite advantage with my RV lifestyle. One year, I decided to spend December in Florida. That year, I got two Christmases. One in Florida with many of my beautiful friends at the Museum of Vanning in Hudson and a beautiful Christmas with my family and close friends in Ontario.
Is it different? Very much so! Are there some things I miss? Yes, absolutely. Would I change it? Not for now. I like this lifestyle, and the people that I am blessed with in my life help me make it work.
Life is Good!
May all the blessings of Christmas surround you and yours!
Thanks for coming along on my Chipmunk Adventure! See you in the new year.
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Chipmunk's RV Life 