What does Christmas mean to you?

What does Christmas mean to you? For me it has changed over the years.

I could go into the religious side of Christmas, but I think that religion is a personal choice and one that gives great comfort to many, but it can also be divisive.

I loved Christmas as a child; the excitement I felt was unbelievable. The excitement that only a child can really feel, I would say. My parents would try their best to get us to bed at a reasonable time, but my sister and I would stay awake as long as possible. Many a year, we were still awake at midnight. I know that when we finally went to sleep, it was a relief to my parents, but it was short-lived. We would be pestering them from about three in the morning to get up so that we could open the presents from Santa! I feel so sorry for them now. They must have spent the whole of Christmas Day wishing it was time to go to bed. We had no family around us, so our neighbours became that. Every Christmas Day, my mum would put the meat in the oven and prepare the vegetables, then we went around to see our wonderful neighbours and their family. It was a happy way to spend Christmas. I have happy memories of that, but I am an introvert, and as I got older, being around lots of people was hard for me.

As an adult, I chose to spend my Christmas Day with my husband and children. It was small but equally special. The looks on the faces of the children as they opened their presents made my day. There was not a lot of money, but we saved throughout the year to get them the presents they asked for, and I hope they have wonderful memories too.

These days, a perfect Christmas for me is quiet and relaxed, with no pressure and time just to reflect on the year gone by. I do think that there is so much pressure to create the perfect Christmas, but what is that? We all have different ideas of it. Christmas films portray big family get-togethers where everyone gets along, but that is the Hollywood version of it and not the Christmas that many of us have or want, but it is a Christmas that many will strive for. How long is it usually before the bickering starts, before the children are crying or a toy is broken? What about the pressure to make the perfect Christmas dinner? How much food gets wasted? At the end of the day, what is a Christmas dinner - it is a beefed-up roast, that is all it is.

So what will my Christmas look like this year? Christmas day will be spent with my husband, son, and dogs. We will have dinner, go for a walk with Beau and Henry, then veg out in front of the television, no pressure at all. We will also have time over the festive season with our daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren, catching up with them and it will be just perfect for me.

However you spend Christmas, I hope that it is perfect for you.

Let me leave you with a poem I wrote about the excitement of Christmas for children.

Merry Christmas

Love

Hallie XX