One day out of 365
The build up begins earlier and earlier every year, no sooner have the Easter Eggs been polished off, we are checking the bulbs on the fairy lights, and polishing our baubles.
For some the preparation for Christmas begins with the January sales a week later, are we a nation gone mad?
I myself love the ‘family’ element to the festivities, but I at least try to make them last a little longer than a solitary day.
Having been a nurse, working all the strange hours and days life has thrown at me for so many years, I now indulge in the freedom my Christmas now gives me, and the luxury of being able to be with my family on that special day.
It’s all hype really, clever marketing, temptation from finance companies to get into greater debt, the adverts that aim to tease our gullible children. But still we put ourselves through it.
One day out of 365, it is truly bizarre that we spend months preparing for the big day, and it is all over so quickly.
Pleasing the family
Christmas is, and rightfully so, for the children. I am no happier than trawling the shops, or surfing the internet for unusual gift ideas. As a parent the pressure is on from around September onwards, when the Christmas lists start being subtly left for us parents to view. This year my son even produced a computerised version, and saved it in ‘my documents’ now that is anything but subtle!
As long as everyone is catered for on the present front I am happy. I get such pleasure watching people’s faces as they open their gift, and look genuinely pleased with the contents.
So who sees who on the big day? This is always a difficult one for us as our families span two counties, and we can never please everyone.
Fortunately with children people often allow you the excuse that being in your own home is ‘best for the kids’, which to be honest suits me just fine.
I am more than happy to have an ‘open house’ on the day, and for several days after. This does seem to be the only way to keep everybody happy nowadays.
Then there’s the problem of who drives, and who is the one that drinks. An argument I have been privy to more times than I care to remember. Most of us just want to relax on Christmas Day, slump in the armchair after the big meal, and sip on a festive drink or two.
But there will always be one poor soul who is sitting bolt upright at the dinner table, drinking orange juice by the gallon.
Turkey sandwiches
Turkey, not a meat that I would even choose to eat any other time of the year, and then from the 25th of December onwards, we eat it in every way imaginable. For me I prefer to use a bit more imagination, a nice plump goose, or a well prepared Venison for the big day, after all we pull out all the stops in every other way, so why not break the tradition now and again.
Us Brit’s do like to be patriotic to tradition, but on the other hand like people to view us as ‘different’ and ‘modern thinking’. Christmas tends to be one time of the year when so many people revert back to family traditions spanning decades.
Keeping sane throughout
It’s like spinning plates, as the hostess on the day we have to be seen to be coping, when all around us is manic.
Kids playing in boxes, rather than with the expensive contents, the dog jumping up on the work surface to get at the lunch before it’s even been cooked, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
My tip is to plan the day as if it were a military exercise. O.K if it goes ‘off plan’ so be it, but at least you tried!
Avoid peaking too early when it comes to alcohol consumption, as this often leads to catastrophic culinary disasters.
Try to stay friends with your partner, after all they are your ’buddy’ for the day.
If you are entertaining family or friends, it will be your partner who will be consoling you in the bathroom, or removing the carving knife from your clutches when you are loosing the plot.
Remember, when the day is over, and you wake up to the carnage the next day, it is your partner that will be there by your side to wade through and help you make your house your ‘home’ again.
Extend the festivities
I personally hate the thought that all my efforts are over in one day, so for my family Boxing Day is just as special as Christmas Day.
A menu will be prepared, and the day will again centre around the family.
I find it incomprehensible to think that retailers are happy to be ‘business as usual’ just one day after Christmas Day. Those poor people that are unable to relax knowing they have to return to work the very next day.
I know the feeling only too well, but as a nurse it was always part of my ‘vocation’ that I would have to work on days that others wouldn’t even consider it.
The sad thing is that if this is the way the nation accepts things now, in the not too distant future I wouldn’t be surprised if Debenham’s operated ‘Sunday opening hours’ on Christmas Day too!
We have so little protected time with our loved one’s, why are we so hell bent to make this shorter as every year goes by.
I am not religious, but I am a true fan of Christmas. I accept the mad rush in the supermarkets on Christmas Eve, the fact that I can’t go and buy a pint of milk and paper in the village shop on Christmas morning, it’s all part of the tradition.
If we all entered into the spirit of the occasion a little more, then that feeling of being totally deflated the day after Christmas would not be an issue, as the festivities would simply carry on a few more days.
