I wrote on Facebook the other day that my Mr 16 gets just as excited about Christmas as his little sister, Miss 4, does. Last year he was up bright and early, along with her, and said he barely slept he was so excited!! Even this past week he has exclaimed how much he loves Christmas.
His Yuletide jolliness actually surprises me a little, as we’re not an overly-festive family … but check out the grin on his face when chatting with Santa!
Our family is reasonably small and Christmas Day involves a very predictable routine. Very. Predictable. Routine. But … amazingly … both my teen boys love the pattern of the day and eagerly look forward to it!
December 25 for us follows the same script each and every year …. and has done since I was a teen myself. It’s always a very pleasant event at my parent’s place with far too much food, great family company and the spoils of lovely gifts.
How we roll on Christmas Day
My mother, father, brother and I have been joined by Mum’s long-time bestie, Aunty Jill and her sons for at least the past 30 Christmases. Now too, spouses, partners, parents-in-law and kids are bundled in and it goes something like this …
- We do the gift exchange first … where everyone gets ridiculously spoilt. Mum plays Santa.
- We’ll then stop for a refreshment (or two)
- Aunty Jill unloads her 7 salads from 2 eskys – directly from the Women’s Weekly Salad Cookbook – but it’s not time to eat yet
- Mum and Dad who put on the cold ham, turkey and prawns will get the platters ready … waiting … teasing
- We’ll then stop for a refreshment (or two).
- After this, the fellows must lug the necessary number of tables into the lounge room. Please do not ask why this is so.
- We’ll then stop for a refreshment (or two).
- Dad … who by this stage is usually quite refreshed … carves and plates the meats and then … it’s on … followed by desert which comes from Mrs K (a long time family friend) who makes her ice-cream Christmas cake and rum-balls. Just to balance the food pyramid a little there is always an abundance of delicious fresh summer fruits straight from the markets
Every single year it’s the type of feast that results in you almost falling from the chair, clutching your belly making declarations of …”NEVER AGAIN!!!!”. 😉
It’s possibly because each year mirrors the previous, I have no ‘stand out’ memories of any singular or spectacular Christmas from my teen years. BUT I certainly do have many warm-fuzzy memories of much love, more food than you can poke the proverbial stick at and the thrill of gorgeous surprises under the tree.
There’s may be no room for the unexpected, but truly I don’t think I’d change a thing. It’s what Christmas means to me … and it’s the memory of Christmas that I hope my kids are building too.
