You can just forget about the holidays because the basketball season falls on just about every major holiday – Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, and Valentine’s Day (but for those married over one year this is no longer considered a holiday).  Halloween falls right in the beginning of the season so most of the time the practices run long and coaches want to meet.  I usually end up taking the kids out to trick or treat while giving the neighbor a bag of candy to dispense to the neighborhood kids on our behalf.  Thanksgiving is a crap shoot because of Thanksgiving tournaments. The team could be in town or out of town.  The best is if the team plays in a Thanksgiving tournament in Hawaii or Puerto Rico and the wives are invited!

One of the benefits of having a husband who is out of town on the holidays is all the dinner invitations.  People always felt sorry for us because Derek was out of town and we didn’t have any other family in the area so they would invite us over for holiday dinners.  I went three straight years without having to cook on Thanksgiving.  The only problem when eating with other families is that sometimes what you consider a “traditional” meal may not be considered “traditional” in another’s home.  One year our neighbors invited us over for Thanksgiving dinner and I had no idea they were vegetarians.  We ended up having vegetarian lasagna and a whole lot of beans.  I thought something was up when I walked into their house and it didn’t have that familiar aroma of turkey and stuffing.  It wasn’t what I was used to but you learn to go with the flow especially if it involves a free meal.

Christmas in our house rarely falls on December 25^th.  Santa usually comes on the day that most conveniently fits into the practice schedule, holiday tournament schedule and visiting the grandparents.  Santa has come anywhere from the 23^rd to the 27^th.  My poor babies were so confused they never knew what night to put out cookies and milk.  But once they saw the presents under the tree all was forgotten.  Most of the time young kids don’t know what day it is anyway unless you tell them.  It could be December 23^rd and if I tell them it is December 25^th and Santa came down the chimney last night they would not be the wiser.  I just have to make sure that I keep the neighborhood kids away for a few days.  Finally, New Year’s was a lost cause anyway.  With four kids in our first seven years of marriage I was lucky to still be up by midnight.  I really didn’t even know what year it was at that point any way.