Christmas. Aw. There it goes. Phew. And yet… sob!
There’s something about Christmas, right? For those of us who celebrate it’s a special time, and yet it can also be exhausting and isolating and a bit sobering. This year, especially, it seems that so many sad things have been happening at the tail end of the year (or earlier). For some people, Christmas isn’t fitting them quite right.
I totally get that. This year we had a very quiet Christmas. We opened gifts on Christmas Eve for the first time ever (because the kids don’t get up until LUNCH TIME, these days, making for the most boring non-present-y Christmas morning ever!)
We had turkey and ham and all the delicious trappings on Christmas Eve too. We do this every year. I am not sure why, I think it’s because we like to get started on the festivities ASAP. Rin’s friend Eliza came over on The Eve as an extra BONUS family member and we all had a really nice time.
I made everyone listen to Elton John and we chatted about Kabana (if you don’t know, that’s a kind of trashy sausage) and sipped delicious drinks and talked about all the things.
On Christmas DAY I got up early (because I am an early morning enthusiast) and everyone else got up late. Well… Cam actually got up mid-morning. Then Rin came over. Then the OTHER kids got up around noon.
I made crepes with lemon/sugar or Nutella (for SUPER DOOPER late breakfast) and then we had lunch quite late – at 2.30. It was nice. SUPER low-key and relaxed.
If I’m being honest, I will admit it was a bit TOO low-key for me because I’m having some adjustment issues. By 5pm I was sporting the pouty mood of a five year old who was all out of gifts, except it wasn’t about the gifts. It was more about no one else buying into the five-year-old type of excitement and Christmas joy and silliness that I felt Christmas Day deserved.
My family was bypassing the five-year-old kind of excitement because they are all grown up! I’m really into that kind of WHOOP, but as your kids mature they might be into the more CHILLED OUT elements of Christmas, rather than my favoured THRILLED OUT elements. Good for them. I mean really, who made ME the boss of Christmas feelings? Sheesh. *stamps foot*
It’s okay though, because I got over my sookiness, ate leftovers for dinner and watched some Gilmore girls in bed. Lorelai fixes everything, and for that I am truly thankful.
I’m not COMPLETELY over it, it seems. I’m already plotting a new plan for next year which will force them to be excited. It’s not that I don’t like the chilled Christmas, but I would like things to be QUITE excitedly joyful. I’m not 100% sure of how I am going incite the thrills, but it might involve a giant Chinese Restaurant Banquet for lunch on Xmas Day. Or a piñata. Or some water bombs. Or something like that. They get really excited about Chinese food, so maybe I could milk that for squees?!
TODAY we’ve been watching the cricket (which means I’ve been watching Netflix with headphones on while CAM watches the cricket). I am crocheting a thing and squinting my eyes into the distance, spotting the new year head for the first time. I’m doing lots of walking (trying to walk 200kms by 18th January – I’m only up to 41.66kms right now) and trying to finish The Signature Of All Things which I was enjoying but am now pretty bored with (snooty me!) And I’m feeling a bit weirded out by Christmas, I guess.
It’s super fun, but sometimes the feelings don’t match the front, if you know what I mean…
I’m super grateful that things can be ever-changing though. Imagine if stuff stayed the same all the time? We’d get all creaky and knowing and bored, perhaps? It’s good to keep learning about how life works, right? I’m still learning about how families work, I think.
Love to youse. Hope your 24th and 25th were lovely, whether your are Christmassy or not!
Smooches!
x Pip
Well we solved it – we had a bonus baby! And so with our 21 yr old moved out and the 15 yr old content to sleep our 6 year old brings us all the continued joy of having a baby in the house, we figure we will be well into our 50’s and maybe have grandchildren by the time he stops believing 😉 xx
You know what’s going to happen Pip. I know this because it happened to me. The kids grow up and get excited again! Emma woke us up with a phone call at 5am on Christmas Day, complaining that Hayley (they live together) wasn’t awake yet to give her presents and they both arrived and insisted on decorating the table, cooking and complaining that they had to wait until after lunch to open the pressies. It has become obvious that our lives have reached the stage where I can pass the baton to them now. I’ve told them that next Christmas I will be away but after that we are taking turns.
I must admit, I am like a five year old when it comes to christmas. And I am so not giving into the grown-up-it-does-not-feel-so-special mood my bf had this year. I think I cured part of it on christmas day by having a pillow fight 😉
We did havechanges too though as the bfs sister has her own house now and we were there on christmas eve(in Germany you open the gifts on christmas eve). It was so different not having everyone over at the bf’s parents house for sleepover two nights in a row. It felt a little quiter. Not really bad, but just really different.
I had a VERY grinchy teenager & it almost ruined our morning but we moved on. We are SO lucky that we will get to indulge in the magic/fun/excitement of Christmas for years to come thanks to the babies. I think that’s one if the reasons I was a bit cross with the teenager- I want him to share in their fresh excitement but he just wants to sleep, play Xbox & talk to his mates. …
We had our big celebration on Christmas eve instead of the actual day. I loved it & I think it’s going to be our new thing.
I think I’m still learning how families work too Pip. It’s like we have two families in one- two big kids & two little kids- so it’s hard to find a balance some days.
Love & hugs Pip xx
It’s just weird as the kids grow up and the whole exciting chrissy morning thing just isn’t anymore! Reminds me of my fave saying, change is the only constant in life. I miss that 5am excitement but like the sleep and extra time to get organised now 🙂 …. Love reading bout your chrissy day Pip x
Wow – this was a great post to read. It’s not quite fitting me this year either. I love a big Xmas and ours, while lovely, was fairly chilled out. I’m on a weirdo detox for some health stuff so couldn’t; indulge in any of the usual foods either and I reckon that had a bit to do with it. Hope you have a lovely rest now it’s over and that next year is FULL of excitement!
I had a little tanty towards the end of Chrissie Day last year for the same reasons and this year I took great pleasure in waking the teens up at 9.30ish! I am getting much better at accepting change but it’s nice to see others have the same issues, it makes me feel like a normal, flawed human!
We are at the other end of the spectrum – we always celebrated Christmas Eve with my parents (Dutch) but as Master Six’ birthday is also Christmas Eve, we have changed things up recently. There is plenty of excitement (at 4am) on Christmas Day and I do love it – as tiring as it is. But I am suffering Post Christmas Let Down as I do every year – bring on New Years!
Well kiss my grits – I thought it was just me (one of the kids didn’t appear until 2pm and wasn’t interested in opening presents and I cried like 4 year old – all over excited and over tired and stuff)…I got better. Very relieved to know I’m not solo and yes, Christmas Eve will be the go next year because, no, we aren’t small and little any longer and things are allowed to change. They so are! X
Oh my god. PHEW. I thought I was the only one. I didn’t like to talk about it… but… it HAPPENS! OMG! Love to you and HUGE PHEWS! xxx