Kristin Marthaler

With holidays coming up only one thing weighs on my mind. Insane family. I’m not talking the kind that need medication (however it may help). I’m talking about the ones with the quirky personalities that you are more than thankful to only see on holidays.

It usually starts with the overexcited parents when you pull up in the driveway.

“Oh I haven’t seen you forever, sweety, I missed you so much!!” (kiss, kiss, kiss)

Then, the father who pretends to not have missed you, but you see that tiny lip quiver as he pats you on the back. Once you get passed the “sane” portion of the family, you meet the extended rellies.

The uncles that fall asleep as soon as lunch is over. The aunts that laugh so loud you can hear them on the next level of the house. The little grandkids that think the more people there are in the house, the more rambunctious they can be. And the grandfather, who falls asleep during the meal, during the prayer, and as soon as lunch is done. Without all this you don’t have a true family celebration.

“Love is what makes this house a home.” Corny as that sounds, it is so true. Now that most of you have left home and come to college, going back doesn’t feel quite the same. Your room feels a little stale, your parents have changed something minor, but to you, it’s the biggest deal in the world, and you start referring to home as back at school. But all that makes the homecoming that much more important. Because you have the insane rellies to welcome you back.

However, it begs me to wonder, if all my relatives are insane … how am I? I’m not insane. I’m perfect, it’s the rest of my family that is crazy. Except there was that one time I soaked my cousin with a hose right before lunch and hid him so my aunt wouldn’t yell at me. And that other time all of us grandkids fed chocolate to the dogs and then got told it could kill them. We hid really well that day (and away from the dogs). All in all, no matter how insane you think the holiday will be, just remember, you’re one of them.

Be thankful for what you have, and the fact that you aren’t on medication yet.

#1.883906:340998890.jpg:Marthaler, Kristin.jpg:Kristin Marthaler, Beyond the Babble: