i sort of assumed pesach at my in laws wouldn't be that different than succos at their house. but that was before we decided to go for the first days.

of all the Jewish holidays, pesach is the biggest when it comes to family traditions. and my family is full of them. from the tunes, to the songs, to the food, and just about everything in between, i always knew my family did it differently. my mother makes food from scratch, like mayonnaise, strawberry jam, orange juice, chocolate syrup, tomato sauce...it might taste a little different, but once you get used to it, it's very earthy and wholesome. the seder might go until 2 am because my family has songs for everything, and there are some divrei torah that are said every year, even though we all know them by heart already.

on the flip side, my mother in law buys pesach processed things, so there was ketchup and soda, potato chips taffies. and my father in law is a rabbi so he has to "work" the day after the seder, so the seder is slightly shorter (by about two hours) the tunes they sing are different, and even the way my husband's family reads the haggada is different from what i was used to.

i missed my mother's traditional chocolate mousse and cucumber salad, but my mother in law has her dishes that she makes every pesach that my husband and his siblings look forward to.

it wasn't difficult to be with my "other family", it was just different. and I'm looking forward to spending the second half of yom tov with my side.