Christmas is ultimately my favourite time of year, the lights, the movies, the ‘summer-ness’, throw in a bit of food, the music and a family get together or two, there are so many things I love about Christmas. Unfortunately, some of my ideals are unrealistic and romantic movie driven and unless I up and move to a small European village with a stone cottage, then my ideals are also unattainable. Some years are more Christmassy than others, but that’s life, and that’s okay. How we spend the day and the lead up to the day evolves, or at least it should. I know it has for us over the years. I’ll say it again ‘I LOVE CHRISTMAS’ - Right up until the overwhelm and stress of it all gets in the way! And this year was the least stress I have seen on an actual Christmas day yet.
Don’t get me wrong, there was plenty of stress in the lead up, but what I want to know is – why? Why do we do it to ourselves? For one day of the year, why do we spend hours upon hours in the kitchen cooking ten times the amount of food humanly possible to consume in an eight hour time span, why do we spend so much time maniacally cleaning, when the other 364 days of the year we are happy with the state of our space, why do we spend unretrievable hours tending to every microscopic detail when within the first hour of guests arriving all the efforts are hidden beneath a layer of discarded wrapping paper, presents and empty drink bottles. Did anyone even see the extra efforts?
And when I ask myself ‘why’ yet again, the simple answer, at least for me, is that’s how it’s always been done.
This year I created space for everyone to step out of their comfort zone, go against the grain for how the day would be spent. This year, we (immediate house, not all daily participants) started the day out at my favourite beach, with cricket, snorkeling, swimming, a little food, and a warm drink. The weather was perfect! Could not have asked for any better. The snorkeling was wonderful, some amazing fish to see, though a bit on the shallow side, I didn’t let that dampen my efforts. The best part, we had the beach to ourselves! Oh, and smiles, so much smiling and laughter. Despite the knowledge there were still jobs to do at home, I was able to be in the moment, I was able to love the time with my boys, and truly ‘be’ there with them. Neither of them had access to technology, the only thing we had – my waterproof camera! No internet which meant no snap chat for the teen, no gaming for the youngest, we just had each other. It was incredible but ended all too quickly. We were on a time frame.
Once home, the clock seemed to speed up. There were showers to be had, because heaven forbid, we be covered in sand and salt for the day. There was the vacuuming and mopping to do, despite knowing that within the next hour no one would know it had been done, the last of the food prep to complete knowing that so much food would not even be touched, making sure all the presents were under the tree – this bit I didn’t mind 😊. Then everyone was here. People, puppies and presents were going everywhere.
The day went off without a hitch, small fraction of the food was eaten, drinks a plenty were drunk, and the dishes washed each time I went into the kitchen for something or other. Paper plates were used (despite my aversion to them the rest of the year – this was my guilty convenience as I didn’t want to be chained to the sink ALL day). The kids entertained and amped up on excess sugar. I sat and thoroughly enjoyed my virgin mojitos (refined sugar free style) and nibbled away at some delicious vegan food throughout the day.
We finished the day off, overlooking the water and wearing the kids and the dogs out at the pump track / beach until the sun had set. By 9 p.m. everyone had taken their place on a couch, by 9.30 all the males were sleeping, as I finished my tea and watched a little more Christmas Vacation, I realised that all the pent-up stress had been released. No one was going to have to cook for the next week.
But I am still left wondering, why? When on the other 364 days of the year I spend my time attempting to live as minimally as possible, to reduce stress and reduce my environmental footprint, why do we put ourselves through all this extra stress for one day in the year.
I vote for next year to be sausage sandwiches eaten near calm ocean water lagoons bordered by grass and edged by the holiday beach house so that we can play both beach cricket and croquet, duck in and out of the water to go for swims and to snorkel, live in beach clothes the entire day, covered in sand and salt. For those that don’t want to be in the sand can sit on the deck and take in all the views. Hmmm…. Perhaps I should start planning now!! Because to me, that sounds bloody perfect!!
Comments