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Hello One and All,
I hope you are all doing well this Christmas morning. This is just a high speed drop by kind of post to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and hope that you have a great New Year too. We’ll be celebrating as it’s Blueberry’s first Christmas – I imagine that there will be a whole heap of crazy ensuing in our house shortly. But we’ll be doing one present each and then heading off to church as usual.
What kind of traditions do you have in your family at Christmas?
The “one present and then go to church” tradition is one that Chris and I instigated when we got married. Prior to that, we had different traditions in my family. When we were old enough too we’d go to the Candlelight service at Chapel at 11:30pm and then wish everyone Happy Christmas at the end of the service which was shortly after midnight then we’d go home and to bed before getting up in the morning to do presents. Christmas Day would usually start with Rich and I trying to sneak around upstairs without getting in trouble for being awake too early which was good fun. We were allowed to open our stockings before we went downstairs, there was always a bag of chocolate coins and a satsuma. Then the other presents in there would be little things like a nail varnish or a book or something like that.
Once we’d managed to coax Dad out of bed, we’d all go downstairs. Dad would go into the living room first and would usually create some hype about Christmas being cancelled or that Father Christmas hadn’t been this year because we’d been so naughty. We’d then open our presents, my Mum would write a list of who my presents were from while I opened them while my Dad did the same for my brother. When we’d done our presents my Mum and Dad would take their turns and Rich and I would write down who the presents were from. At some point between Christmas and New Year we’d be encouraged to write Thank You notes. (Leading up to Christmas I’ll be looking on Etsy or in the supermarkets for thank you cards to send out)
Following presents, my Mum would start on the Christmas dinner, and we’d then watch films or play computer games depending on what had been received, at lunchtime we’d stop for Christmas Dinner around the dining room table all together.
After dinner while we all nursed our over stuffed bellies, we’d flop in front of the TV for the Queen’s Speech which my Dad would “encourage” us to watch. Sometimes we’d play board games or might do other bits and pieces depending on the presents that we had received. I’m sure some of the Christmas Day afternoon activities would involve my Mum teaching me to knit (For the 100th time!) or helping me start a kit that she’d bought for me as a present.
Tea would vary but usually involved sandwiches and nibbly bits, we’d work our way through the Christmas specials – in the last few years this has involved Doctor Who, now that technology allows you to record more than one programme at a time and things like that we often queue up our respective devices and spend the evening playing board games instead of hanging out round the TV. Rich and I are banned from being on the same team when it comes to Articulate. Somehow we get on the same wavelength and apparently that’s an unfair advantage, Rich will often describe something obscure from a program that me and him watch but my parents and Chris don’t watch or something like that and we’ll get it that way.
But anyway, I hope you all have a very Happy Christmas, whatever you are up to and have a safe time over Christmas and New Year.
Han 🙂
