So Christmas has been. It has not, however, gone. Christmas does not end until Epiphany on the sixth of January. But Christmas day is over, so I can at least do some reflecting on the subject.
I think one’s enjoyment of Christmas is very much dependent on one’s relationship with one’s family. It’s almost invariably a time of family get-togethers and as long as you and your family get along well, that’s great. If not, it’s going to be strained and difficult.
The build-up to Christmas, though is stressful for everyone. I’m not so jaded and miserable as to dislike Christmas once it’s actually in progress, but the build-up to it is an enterprise I could do very well without. I don’t even have to do much in preparation besides acquiring presents — no need to plan Christmas dinner for eight people or anything like that — but that’s tiresome enough. Especially the business of buying gifts for relatives you only see two or three times a year and hardly know well enough to know what is a good present anyway.
But for me, at least, once all that rubbish is sorted and Christmas is actually happening rather than just looming horrifyingly on the horizon, I still enjoy it. My mother has, over the past few years, fully mastered Christmas dinner, which has for a while been roast goose. And the business of exchanging presents is fun. Being the selfish, greedy, materialistic child in an adult’s body that I am, I enjoy receiving presents. But I enjoy giving them, too. It’s very nice to see someone open a present I got them and be pleased by it, especially if it was something I thought to get them rather than something they asked for.
Having had the Christmas experience at home yesterday, with my paternal grandparents and uncle, we’ll be enacting a similar ritual at my maternal uncle’s house in Somerset on Monday. In the meantime we have two days of quiet. After that, everything gradually starts drifting back to normal. I don’t know whether I’ll be doing anything in particular for this New Year. At this stage I’m inclined to suspect probably not.
Merry Christmas, everyone.