Last week I used my weekly Monday Musings to, let’s face it, grumble about people pushing Christmas too early and planning much too far ahead. Whilst I admire Scrooge’s newfound attitude of keeping Christmas all the year round I’m pretty sure that Mr Dickens meant keeping the generosity of spirit and good nature that Christmas inspires rather than buying your baubles in July.
However, grumble though I may about Christmas coming too early, I’ve got news for you…
December is here, there’s an advent calendar on my desk and that most definitely means IT’S CHRIIIIIIIIISSSSSSTTTTTTMMMMAA
Now you may think from my previous posts that I’m unlikely to truly enter the spirit of Christmas but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Christmas is by far my favourite time of year and I can’t wait to find myself a festive jumper, decorate the house from top to bottom, stuff myself with Mince Pies and watch some Lords a Leapin’. Actually I’ve always been slightly disappointed on the leaping lords front, it seems these days we have to settle for just Boris leaping around like a lunatic and that happens all year round anyway.
Each year though as Christmas comes around once more I worry that it might not be as special as in previous years. I remember as a kid waking up excitedly to find a giant sack of presents waiting magically at the end of my bed. I remember one year even half waking to see a big black boot and a pair of red trousers walking across the room before hurriedly closing my eyes for fear that ol’ Saint Nick would catch me awake and leave nothing but coal… after all we had a gas fire so that would have been particularly mean of him. I remember running to my parents room and jumping on the bed to tell them Father Christmas had been before tearing into our presents only to find that there were still more presents downstairs under the tree from all the family. It was magic, pure magic, and how can Christmas as a grown-up ever live up to those childhood memories?
Back then I wanted fun exciting things like Lego and Scalextric but now, well ok let’s face it I still want Lego and Scalextric but I also quite fancy a decent electric razor like my dad used to get, a present I definitely at the time deemed the most boring thing of all time ever (probably an unwise thing to say to my dad as it turned out that thanks to my mum being more in the know about what dad actually wanted than I was the razor was actually from me but still). And, when I wake up, I have to concede that I’m more likely to find an aching back than a sack full of presents. Has Christmas then started to lose it’s magic?
Not one bit. I love Christmas now as much as ever I did, and whilst these days I might be a little more Mistletoe and Wine rather than Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer I still can’t wait for the big day to arrive. I’m an incredibly busy person but at Christmas time I make an extra effort to spend more time with friends and family and remember what it’s really all about. I love the excitement, the generosity and friendliness that Christmas brings out in all of us and though my enjoyment of it has changed in its nature I still feel that Christmas magic every year. It may not be me waking up to find Santa’s sack awaiting me, but I can’t wait to see the look on the faces of my nephews when he visits them or to tuck-in to Christmas dinner with the people I love.
Grow out of the excitement of Christmas? Bah, humbug!
