The holiday season can be a bit challenging when your parents are divorced; I’ve understood this concept my entire life. My parents got divorced when I was a year old, so I’ve always had to deal with “switching-off” every holiday. No matter whether your parents live 5 minutes or 14 hours away from each other, it’s still a struggle.

I have roughly 4-6 Thanksgiving dinners a year. Not only are my parents divorced, but my grandparents are, too, and for the most part, all of my great-grandparents are still alive as well. When I was little, I’d only go to one side of the family’s holiday celebration, but since I’ve been able to drive, there is no excuse as to why I can’t make it to everyone’s Thanksgiving or Christmas feast because my Mom and Dad only live three hours away from each other.

I have a kind heart, and I can’t say no to my Dad’s children or my Mom’s children. It makes me feel like they think I favor a side, but I could never feel that way towards any of them, so I have to prove myself through actions.

Traveling is the most annoying thing about it. It’s not that I don’t want to see everyone; it’s that I am tired. I’m tired of being guilt-tripped into traveling 9 hours in a day round trip, I’m tired of driving, and I’m tired of people fighting over me.

To be honest, I wish I wasn’t an adult so I didn’t have to plan all of this myself. I wish I was still a child so someone would tell me that I could only go to one Thanksgiving or Christmas per year.

But mostly I am thankful.

I am thankful because I have so many family members who care enough to fight for a chance to see me. I am thankful for all of the support and food I get over the holidays, and I am thankful that I am fortunate enough to drive nine hours round-trip because I know that there are people out there who wish they had a car to be able to go see their family. There are people out there who wish that they were annoyed by the amount of texts they get asking if they can work their family members into their holiday plans. There are people who wish that they had so much food in a day that they could feel like their stomach was about to burst; l am beyond thankful I am not one of them.