The Real Meaning of Christmas

45 sleeps til Christmas.

A sentence to strike panic in the heart of any parent, and to raise joyful, expectant smiles on the faces of all kids.

This weeks Blog This challenge is about our personal meaning of Christmas.

Pic from here

I love Christmas, I really do. I love the sense of family, magic and togetherness it can bring. Of course, it can also bring about exasperation, desperation, chaos, tears and the sincere desire to choke a family member.

I love spending hours trawling shops and markets, searching for just the right gift. Thoughtful, beautiful, ethical and from the $5 bin.

Pic from here

Since having GG, I love re-discovering how magical Christmas can be. How does Santa get to all the houses in one night? How do reindeers fly? What the heck does “One More Open Tray” have to do with Christmas (this is what she sings instead of One Horse Open Sleigh) To see her amazed little face in the morning when I’ve been up til 3am decorating the house. How did this happen? Did the Christmas fairies visit? Hang on, isn’t that My Little Pony dressed as a reindeer?

I love to make those once-a-year treats at Christmas time too. Gingerbread (reindeers last year, I’m going to try a house this year), rum balls, white Christmas and Grandma Campbell’s Christmas Cake whose recipe reads like an AA meeting who slipped and went to Vegas.

Pic from here

We don’t have many traditions around Christmas in my family per se, but we do have stories that have become family legend. Like when we remind each other to be enthusiastic about all presents received by saying “Oh! My very own teabags!” which is what my sweet-souled sister excitedly said when she was a kid and our slightly doolally Grandma had mistakenly wrapped up the teabags she was taking on her trip, rather than the actual present. One tradition we do have, is that all the kids lay out the presents they have received on their bed so a photo can be taken of the haul. Well, except the year I got a horse...

So, my meaning of Christmas:

C - Cricket in the yard on Christmas Day. Remember to bring a dog who’ll go fetch those cover drives!!

H - Having all the family together, eating, drinking, bickering, telling stories and laughing.

R - Remembering “The Reason for the Season” – and it’s not presents!

I - Insisting

S - Sending Christmas cards, and then getting one from someone not on your list, only when it’s too late to send them one back!

T - Taking GG to look at beautiful Christmas lights throughout the neighbourhood.

M - Missing my Grandparents so much it hurts, but remembering all the Christmases we got to have with them.

A - Avowing not to break my budget, but I always do. :)

S - Singing Christmas Carols while I bake, while we decorate the tree, in the car, as lullabies; any chance I get!

What does Christmas mean to you?