Each week, Prudence asks readers for their thoughts on the letters she’s received. Her reply will be available every Friday only for Slate Plus members .

Hey Prudence,

Re Hopeful for Balance : Ten years ago, we stumbled on a wonderful solution to give our daughters a stress-free Christmas.

We celebrate with them the weekend before. If Christmas Day is on a weekend, we still celebrate on the Saturday before. One daughter needs to travel, the other lives close by, but Christmas is always on a weekend, so they can both come.

We did this to accommodate in-laws who feel more tied to the actual day than we do. As it turns out, our girls have told us separately that they feel like they had “their” Christmas, and they feel more relaxed and have a better time at the in-law Chri

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