It’s that time of year again when the western world goes completely nuts. It’s a kind of mass hysteria which gets us all spending money we haven’t got on things we don’t need. As I get older, Christmas and all it now stands for gets right on my tits. Sorry! That came out much angrier than I was intending but that is how I feel. Every year there is a huge expectation to compete/ spend and this year especially I am just not playing that game. I am not religious so to be honest it was never particularly about the nativity but for me it was always about time spent with family and friends.
So here is my Christmas List
NO I do not want any presents, I don’t NEED anything.
YES I want to see friends and family and spend time with them, have fun, eat drink and be merry.
YES We will put up the tree and decorate it with all our traditional trinkets and decorations that have been in and out of the box in some cases for over 40 years.
Meet Adam’s Snowman. He has been proudly wearing his Man City scarf and bobble hat since about 1970. Made by Connie, Adam’s Grannie, he has been on our Christmas tree every single year since Adam and I had our first tree together in 1988
NO our tree will not be colour coordinated with this years must have decorations.
YES I will give gifts, homemade ones. This year our family have all again agreed a present amnesty and our gifts to each other are games to play together on our Christmas Day. We have our Christmas Day celebration on the 27th. That is the day that everyone can be together, Darren’s boys, his parents, brother and sister in law and my girls and their boyfriends, my mum and step dad, my brother and his family, our half sister and her kids all around the table together to enjoy a meal that we each contribute towards. Just added that lot up and it’s 22 people for a Christmas dinner…. Oh Heck! it’s going to be one enormous turkey and suitable veggie option. I might have to add bring a chair each to the list.
NO I will not be buying hundreds of pounds worth of gifts for people who don’t really need anything.
NO I will not be buying excessive amounts of overpackaged snack food. We will as far as possible make healthy, tasty homemade food from their ingredients.
YES that can include sweets and biscuits, treats and cakes. I am not a complete Scrooge I just want to wind it all back a bit, bring the level back to something that is manageable.
Gifts of an experience, a trip somewhere, a promise of time spent together in a shared treat, a concert or theatre trip, a meal cooked or a garden tidied.
On the 25th December Darren and I, Megan and Mat are all heading to the Wellspring. It’s a homeless charity based in Stockport. We will donate our time there for a few hours to help make a traditional Christmas dinner for the homeless in Stockport. I have quite recently got involved at the Wellspring, going in on Saturdays to cook hot meals. It is one of the most humbling places, really highlighting the madness that has taken hold on this society. Some of the people I meet tell of years of life on the streets, but so many are just down on their luck, through no fault of their own in a desperate position.
Just a thought but let the question after Christmas this year be
‘Who did you see?’ Or ‘What did you do?’
NOT ‘What did you get?’
Dream It Now Do It 