It’s only 3 days until Christmas! Can you believe it? It always creeps up on us and boom there it is! This year has been a little crazy for me when it comes to Christmas organisation. I feel most unprepared. Going on an 8 day cruise in December kind of threw my usual timings out. Wouldn’t have given up that cruise for anything though. It was great!
I’ve found myself being rather bah humbug about Christmas the last few years. A bit of a scrooge I guess! It’s all a hassle – the expense, the shopping, the running around, the dragging out of the Christmas tree and decorations, the heat, and so on. I’m always glad when it’s over and find that I enjoy Boxing Day much more. It’s a quiet day. No running around. Opportunity to swim in the pool, have a nap. A day to look at all your new things and find homes for them. A day to eat leftovers. A day to relax!
Truth be told, I miss the magic of Christmas. To me, the magic of Christmas is brought alive by having little children in the house. My own kids have all grown up now. One has even moved out. They no longer believe in Santa Claus. We no longer put out the Christmas cake and beer for Santa and carrot and water for the reindeers. The kids no longer bound out of bed at the crack of dawn in excitement to discover what Santa may have left in their Santa sacks. They no longer write their letters to Santa which we would make a special trip into the city to post at Santa’s Mail Box @ King George Square. They usually tell me what they’d like for Christmas, so that element of surprise is diminished. I used to love watching their faces as they discovered one new thing after another as they made their way through their Santa sacks.
Maybe it’s time I recalibrated my expectations of Christmas. I thought I would come up with some words from each letter of the words ‘MERRY CHRISTMAS’ that might help me recalibrate. Before I do that though, we really should take a look at what the origin of the words Merry Christmas are! Have you ever thought about that? Wondered where the expression ‘Merry Christmas’ came from? I have and so I found out. I’m pretty sure most people would know that Christians believe that 25 December is the birth date of Jesus Christ, hence Christmas day. What people are less likely to know is that there is an expression ‘To make Merry’, which means to be joyful, celebrate, and be in general good cheer. So Merry Christmas implies that people should Make Merry and enjoy in the celebration of his birth.
So Christmas is supposed to be joyful and celebratory! Here are the words I came up with. I have my interpretation but I’m sure everyone’s interpretation of the words might be quite different.
M – Mothers, Merry
E – Eat, Energy, Elation, Exchange
R – Relatives, Receive, Ritual
R – Rudolph, Reindeer
Y – Yield, Yawn, Youth
C – Children, Caring, Carols
H – Holiday, Happy
R – Reunion, Rest, Revel
I – Invite, Inspiration
S – Sing, See, Smile
T – Time, Treats, Treasure, Together, Tradition, Tree, Turkey
M – Moments, Marvel, Mistletoe
A – Active, Articulate, Assemble
S – Sharing, Santa Claus
So what have I surmised after the exercise above? I’ve realised that the whole Christmas season thing can be tiring, expensive and somewhat annoying but that I need to find more joy in the process and stop wishing it all over.
To find the magic and joy in Christmas again, I think I need to practice a bit more gratitude around Christmas – for example: be grateful to be alive, have family, for the abundance of food, for gifts, for being able to afford to give gifts, etc. I will also try to be more mindful – enjoy the traditions and rituals, enjoy and soak up the moments with relatives (particularly the elderly), enjoy the joy I see in the children. Embrace the quirks and nuances of family members. Laugh and relax. A nice new summer dress to wear for Christmas dinner is another great idea to help bring some excitement and magic to the day. Every girl loves to wear a new dress! 🙂
Are there any words you would add to MERRY CHRISTMAS? Let me know in the comments!
MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone! Have a safe and wonderful day.
Ciao for now,
Link up here at WOTM or with another of us in the Lovin’ Life Linky team:
Leanne of Deep Fried Fruit, Lyndall of Seize the Day Project,
Kathy of 50 Shades of Age, and Deb of Debbish
It doesn’t matter where you link up as it will magically appear on all six blogs
NOTES: 1) Jo of Lifestyle Fifty is #LovinLife OS with family this week so taking a bloggy break. 2) This will be the last Lovin’ Life Linky for 2016. We will return on 5 January 2017.
20 Comments
Hi Min, I fortunate to have 4 grandchildren – oldest 9 and youngest 2.5 – so the magic of Christmas still lives on for me. I do agree though that it can get totally overwhelming and out of control, when it doesn’t need to be. Loved your exercise for Merry Christmas. Wishing you a restful and happy Christmas and a fabulous 2017. Great to connect with you. Sue from Sizzling Towards 60 & Beyond. xx
Hi Sue – I look forward to grandchildren but I think it will be some way off for me! I do have nieces and nephews who are having babies now so that’s lovely and I have some nieces and nephews who are still kids so there are still kids in my Christmas – just not at home. Great to connect with you too Sue! Merry Christmas! 🙂 xo
I think Christmas is more of a thing if there are kids involved. I remember when my niece was young we made more of an effort, whereas now it feels like a bit of a hassle and is more about the time off work than anything else!
Kids make Christmas so much more fun I think. Merry Christmas Deb! 🙂 xo
I think Christmas is all about the kids. Their joy and happiness makes it for me. That and the ham, of course 😉
I agree Amy! Speaking of ham, the one we got this year is SO YUMMY! Merry Christmas! 🙂 xo
I agree that Christmas is not the same without little children. My 26 year old daughter says she finds Christmas Day very boring now! I still enjoy the day, but hate all the fuss and expense. We are having a big family picnic on the 27th with heaps of little ones running around so I think I will enjoy this much more than Christmas Day. Wishing you a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year! 🙂
Glad I’m not the only one Kathy! The fuss and expense is not something I’m fond of either. There will be babies and kids at our Xmas lunch (nieces and nephews and the babies and kids of nieces and nephews) and there will be two kids at our Xmas dinner (niece 14 and nephew 9) so that will make it for me as well as time with family members. Hoping it’s not toooooo hot for Christmas Day. Merry Christmas to you and your famiy and cheers to a fantabulous New Year! 🙂 xo
I’ve never been that into Christmas so I look at people who seem rushed and stressed (like the guy who overtook me this morning because I was going at 70 in a 70 zone, and had the audacity to shake his head at me for not going at 85 like he clearly wanted to)… and I just wonder why. Why put so much stress on yourself? Does it really bring you joy? Why not wind down rather than rush?
I hope the guy that overtook you gets booked for speeding – grrr – pet hate! Not sure what it is about Christmas but it does seem to cause stress and rushing. We all need to chill – you’re right! Merry Christmas to you and hope 2017 is a great one! 🙂 xo
Lovely post and word selection!
Merry Christmas!
SSG xxx
Thanks SSG – Merry Christmas back at you! 🙂 xo
I felt the same way about Christmas for the last few years – once the kids left home it all seemed like a lot of hard work for one day of eating too much. But then I looked at it from the perspective of having the kids come home, my family around me, the extended family get togethers and all the rest and it just wouldn’t be the same without the Christmas tree and the lights and all the other paraphernalia that I dread each year. This year we have our first with a grandbaby – that shines a whole new light on it and I can’t wait. Happy Christmas Min xx
Oh your first Christmas with a grandchild – how wonderful. I hope it was magical for you! Merry Christmas Leanne. 🙂 xo
Love your Christmas post Min. You did so well in the limited time you had available! 🙂 I agree with you that Christmas just isn’t the same without little ones. When our kids were little, I so enjoyed the whole Santa routine and the absolute joy on their faces when they awoke the next morning to discover that Santa had visited them – such great memories! My 14 y.o. son still loves Christmas, even though Santa is a distant memory. We have 3 little ones next door, so we’ve enjoyed talking to them about Santa. Can’t wait to see what he brings them on Christmas morning :). Sending my best wishes to you and yours for a beautiful Christmas and a fabulous year in 2017 #TeamLovinLife
Thanks Lyndall! lol – yes wrote this post late the night before it published. Had no idea what I was going to write about when I sat down. I think it was after midnight before I finally shut down the computer and went to bed, hoping that it would all make sense when it published in the morning! Christmas really does need little ones to add that bit of magic. Luckily there are some in our extended family so lunch and dinner have that extra something. I do miss my kids being little at Christmas time though. Hope you had a wonderful day yesterday. Enjoy the break and best wishes to you for a fabulous 2017! 🙂 xo
I’ve been trying to be grateful lately. My big one and sometimes the only one is that I am grateful to be here – alive and kicking! Christmas is a stressful time, bring on 2017!
I am grateful to still be here too Jan! Yes bring on 2017 I say. Hope you had a good day yesterday. 🙂 xo
I know what you mean Min, I feel a bit the same now that our children are grown. Still I am enjoying what Christmas is like now; I’m only too aware that either or both of my kids will soon be off to visit partner’s families for Christmas, or moving to another city … who knows … though I hope not!
Yes you’d know what I mean Janet. It’s not quite the same. Moving to another city – hope not here too! Hope your Christmas was wonderful and hope 2017 is all you dream it to be and more. xo