I hope as you read this that you have had a good Christmas. Its a funny old time of year isn't it? So much preparation, so many different ways of celebrating, so many arguments, so many special moments. Its a time when everything is magnified in our lives and each little irritation seems greater, each moment of love and laughter more precious.
I have friends who are facing their first Christmas without loved ones - either because of bereavement or divorce. I have friends and family spending their first Christmas with new babies and the mixture of joy and exhaustion that brings!
The whirl of preparation focusses so much on the material - food to eat, drink to consume, presents to buy. Mothers around the land, around the world, sweat over stoves trying to produce the perfect meal, the perfect atmosphere. And its all over in a flash.
I wonder how many people actually have the Christmas of their dreams or of their imagination? Does Christmas really bring the happiness it promises?
My thought is that the simplest of days brings the most happiness. I saw a picture on Facebook which was of some presents made by a friend's child and I would imagine they meant more than things that cost a fortune. To be with the people you want to be with and whom you love at Christmas must make a happy day too.
Christmas means something different to everyone. To some it is a deeply meaningful religious time. For others its a time to relax, eat and be merry. I often think, as I gaze out across the darkness on Christmas Eve ( hoping desperately that my children will go to sleep at some stage before the morning ) of all the different people preparing for their own Christmas Days. I think of the children filled with excitement, of the people alone, of parents wrapping gifts deep into the night and of the millions of people around the world for whom Christmas means nothing at all!
I for one have begun to feel, as I haul myself into bed on Christmas night, well, thank God that's over for another year ... I wouldn't really be that bothered if I never had to celebrate another Christmas. I am not a believer so the whole thing is somewhat hypocritical on my part. I simply am following tradition as part of a Christian society.
I work hard to create the 'perfect' Christmas for my children and husband, but it means nothing to me. The magic has gone. I wonder how many others continue in this way? Not many admit to it do they? We are all supposed to fall into one of two camps - either the "I LOVE Christmas camp" or the "Humbug! I hate it! camp".
The only thing I wish for is that I could spend the day with the people I want to spend it with - not the people I feel obliged to be with. I would just like to be with my husband and my boys - nobody else. But it doesn't work like that does it? For me the magic of Christmas is the magic of every day - the magic of being with the man I love. He and my boys are what make my life special and the only reason I celebrate Christmas is to make them happy. I honestly think that if they were not with me I would not treat Christmas Day differently to any other day.
I hope I don't sound too humbuggy? I remember when Christmas was a very special time - when I believed not only in Father Christmas, but in the whole Christian story too. But time passes and things change. I count myself very lucky to have a lovely family to spend time with whether its Christmas or not.
I just hope that you have had a good Christmas - enjoyed it, survived it ... and that now you can face the coming horror that is ... NEW YEAR!!
I have friends who are facing their first Christmas without loved ones - either because of bereavement or divorce. I have friends and family spending their first Christmas with new babies and the mixture of joy and exhaustion that brings!
The whirl of preparation focusses so much on the material - food to eat, drink to consume, presents to buy. Mothers around the land, around the world, sweat over stoves trying to produce the perfect meal, the perfect atmosphere. And its all over in a flash.
I wonder how many people actually have the Christmas of their dreams or of their imagination? Does Christmas really bring the happiness it promises?
My thought is that the simplest of days brings the most happiness. I saw a picture on Facebook which was of some presents made by a friend's child and I would imagine they meant more than things that cost a fortune. To be with the people you want to be with and whom you love at Christmas must make a happy day too.
Christmas means something different to everyone. To some it is a deeply meaningful religious time. For others its a time to relax, eat and be merry. I often think, as I gaze out across the darkness on Christmas Eve ( hoping desperately that my children will go to sleep at some stage before the morning ) of all the different people preparing for their own Christmas Days. I think of the children filled with excitement, of the people alone, of parents wrapping gifts deep into the night and of the millions of people around the world for whom Christmas means nothing at all!
I for one have begun to feel, as I haul myself into bed on Christmas night, well, thank God that's over for another year ... I wouldn't really be that bothered if I never had to celebrate another Christmas. I am not a believer so the whole thing is somewhat hypocritical on my part. I simply am following tradition as part of a Christian society.
I work hard to create the 'perfect' Christmas for my children and husband, but it means nothing to me. The magic has gone. I wonder how many others continue in this way? Not many admit to it do they? We are all supposed to fall into one of two camps - either the "I LOVE Christmas camp" or the "Humbug! I hate it! camp".
The only thing I wish for is that I could spend the day with the people I want to spend it with - not the people I feel obliged to be with. I would just like to be with my husband and my boys - nobody else. But it doesn't work like that does it? For me the magic of Christmas is the magic of every day - the magic of being with the man I love. He and my boys are what make my life special and the only reason I celebrate Christmas is to make them happy. I honestly think that if they were not with me I would not treat Christmas Day differently to any other day.
I hope I don't sound too humbuggy? I remember when Christmas was a very special time - when I believed not only in Father Christmas, but in the whole Christian story too. But time passes and things change. I count myself very lucky to have a lovely family to spend time with whether its Christmas or not.
I just hope that you have had a good Christmas - enjoyed it, survived it ... and that now you can face the coming horror that is ... NEW YEAR!!
