Being a husband and father has long been one of Tim McGraw’s favorite things, but when it comes to Christmas, that gotten more complicated and Tim and wife Faith Hill have become empty-nesters this year.

The good news? Audrey, Gracie and Maggie are all expected to return to the coop this holiday season, but it’s also got Tim thinking about his own rite of passage – when he graduated to ‘manning up’ on Christmas.

He was about 11 and his mom asked him to put together a doll house for his sisters. “That was the first time that I actually got to participate,” says Tim. “To…like, be the man of the house with my mom and put together all the Christmas stuff for my sisters.”