Christmas is Coming ... Just Do It YOUR Way

 

Christmas is coming in at us at a pace this year.  

The Christmas ads are urging us to spend, spend, spend more than ever before.  Seemingly because of last year we are all being encouraged to spend twice as much this year.  Yes, we were 'confined to barracks' so to speak, but most of us managed to muddle through with the help of alcohol, food and television.  Do we really need twice as much money spent or food to eat this year?  Now I actually like watching Christmas adverts on the whole, after all they make a pleasant change from insurance, funerals and charities begging for just £2 of your money once a month for life to save all the poor little doggies ... for God's sake spend the £50,000 the advertising has cost you ON the actual doggies!! Sorry for the little side rant, where did that come from!!  What I was going to say was at least they show happy families, nice food and glamourous people in evening attire doing ridiculous things clutching bottles of perfume.  How the other half live eh!!

But the pressure on parents must be enormous these days, it seemed bad enough when my two were little all those years ago and I remember spending more money than I should have at the last minute due to advertising pressure.  But spending the following weeks child benefit and thus the food shopping money on a couple of extra gifts for each of them to open under the Christmas tree never made them happier or made Christmas 'more special'.  What made it special was time with us, playing games together, visiting their grandparents and playing snooker with Uncle Graham.  Those are the memories that they treasure now in their 30s and 40s.  (It always shocks your opponent when you play snooker or pool left-handed and you are a right-handed person ... those lessons were worth it!)

And while I understood the need for sparkle and early fairy lights last year why are there so many houses fully decorated already ... and I hasten to add a lot of these have been up and twinkling through windows in the dark of the evening since October. 

 Pumpkins and Christmas Trees a lovely double celebration ... gosh it must get confusing 😁😂

Of course there are those that say this ☝

And yes you are more than entitled to your opinion, but I am firmly in the camp of at least wait until the 1st December.  I mean think of the layers of dust .... or do you actually dust your Christmas tree?  I mean I see December as the once a year month I have off from dusting, I just lay out a garland, stand cards on every surface and warn everyone NOT to write their names in the dust or Santa will be cross. 🎅

But my main message is, no matter what everyone else says ... me included ... do Christmas your way and resist pressure to spend more than you can afford to spend.  If you have thousands in the bank and no other use for it, ignore all the frugal bloggers making Christmas crackers out of newspaper and trees out of twigs and wrapping gifts they bought in the January sales and just blow it on all the Christmas things we are told we need and have to have to enjoy the holiday season, the Christmas bedding, the cushions, the crockery, the magazines, the Advent calendars, the excessive gift buying BUT and yes it is that great big but ... if you don't have that much just keep things simple.

Watch the Christmas movies, you know the ones that started on the Christmas Movie Channel and Channel 5 on 1st October and ones that make you go 'awww' when the girl always gets the guy, the dog always get a new home, and Santa always saves the day.  Read the books ... the charity shops always have lots of brilliant children's Christmas books at this time of year.  Have a games day, or a Harry Potter marathon movie watching day with popcorn and hot chocolate.  In short do the things that make the memories ... one day in the future that could be what you treasure the most.

When asked a few years ago about his favourite childhood memories of Christmas Day, one of my sons said it was the year we got wrapped up and walked on the beach in the afternoon and thought we were in quicksand when it got boggy, but his Dad saved the day and rescued us.  The Game Gear that we had maxed out the credit card to buy was third on the list ... second place went to the mint flavoured Vienetta that we had instead of Christmas pudding.

It puts a lot into perspective doesn't it!!

Sue xx